Staying ahead of the curve
Innovation in law is a real and urgent need. Although opportunity for innovation in the legal ecosystem is abundant, traditionally the sector has been slow to embrace change.
In fact, calls for the legal profession to adopt innovation practices have hit headlines over the past few years, with experts warning of the need to embrace new technologies, reconceptualise legal business models and deliver services more efficiently.
Many law firms recognise not only the need to deliver to clients who now expect a more efficient, transparent approach, but also understand that, in failing to innovate, they risk losing out on the top new talent the legal sector has to offer.
In 2021, the majority of those entering the legal profession are fully versed in the digital world and the sector can’t expect them to leave that behind on entering the workplace.
It’s clear that whether it’s talent, value proposition, or efficiency, companies in the sector are now facing one choice: innovate, or lose out to those who will.
Entrepreneurship as a tool for corporate transformation
In this shifting landscape, the legal sector is looking increasingly to entrepreneurship to support in adapting to and resolving the current challenges the industry faces.
Through their ability to modernize internal processes and external offerings, startups are set to become relevant players in the legal ecosystem. This is already being reflected in the investment space. In Spain for example, up till now, the top 10 legal tech startups have raised over 65 million euros between them.
Within this emerging space of opportunities, a few companies have stood out for their drive to innovate, betting on entrepreneurship as a vehicle to help them stay ahead of the curve.
One of those companies is Mutualidad Abogacía, a leading law firm in the European ecosystem and a pioneer of innovation in the legal space. They teamed up with Bridge for Billions and CINK, extending the reach of their innovation program to support the transformation of the legal sector through entrepreneurship.
What is Lab Emprendimiento Jurídico?
Lab Emprendimiento was launched in June 2020 as an initiative to foster entrepreneurial talent and an innovation culture among legal professionals.
The program aims to promote innovative ideas that respond to the current challenges of the legal profession, focusing on the resolution of pressing needs of companies in the sector such as the problems arising from cybersecurity and digital identity, among others.
Due to its success, Mutalidad Abogacía decided to convert the initiative into a full-on incubation program to continue to support early-stage businesses within the legal space In Europe.
The structure of the program
An overview
After receiving over 220 applications, Fundación Mutualidad Abogacía saw that there was a real need to expand the reach of their program. Originally thought out to support 8 teams through a virtual bootcamp series, they found an opportunity to expand their reach and impact in partnering with Bridge for Billions.
Through this partnership, the program was able to extend from impacting 40 entrepreneurs in 8 teams, to incorporate an additional 12 remote teams. The program kicked off with 100 participants, the largest legal incubation program in Europe, with one portion being hosted by Bridge for Billions and the other by CINK, a partner of Mutalidad Abogacía who ran a bootcamp for projects in later stages of development during the program.
Those who participated with Bridge, had the opportunity to pitch their ideas and build the necessary skills to assess the necessary teams to build their venture through the program. Once incubated, all 20 teams had access to our 8 business tools, expert mentorship from legal and innovation professionals, and a series of Masterclasses around LegalTech and Innovation.
To round off the experience, the Bridge team led a series of skill-building training focused on collaboration, decision-making, team structure and organization, some of the necessary entrepreneurial skills any team needs to launch an enterprise together.
An online solution
Since the program launched during COVID-19 pandemic, it was key that it was carried out entirely online. Mutualidad Abogacía wanted to find a way to provide the right support to entrepreneurs whilst working from home.
Our 100% online program made that possible as it consists of 8 interactive business tools that touch on all the fundamentals of building a startup so both entrepreneurs and mentors will use it to follow a step-by-step path to entrepreneurship.
All members join welcome calls and entrepreneurs are invited to checkpoints to maintain engagement and motivation while making sure all of the participants are on track.
Providing the right support for growth
Set on providing high quality, practical support to entrepreneurs, Mutualidad Abogacía were particularly interested in the “learn-by-doing” nature of the Bridge methodology.
Originally inspired by the “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” method by MIT, it allows entrepreneurs to develop their business in a hands-on way, making mistakes and getting to grips with the fundamentals as they work on their real startup.
Mentorship was also a key part of the program. Entrepreneurs counted on expert mentors from the legal sector to provide them with guidance and a fresh perspective whilst they worked on their project.
In turn, the mentors also got a first-hand look at some of the latest innovation and brightest talent the legal sector has to offer.
Our 3-month online program smoothly facilitated both the connection between entrepreneurs and mentor and the experience as a whole. Entrepreneurs joined the program to work on their value proposition and they ended with a validated business plan including financial projections, competitor map and growth plan.
Post-program, all entrepreneurs entered into the Bridge for Billions entrepreneurship community, where they benefit from life-time access to an international network of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and ecosystem experts.
How was the experience for the entrepreneurs?
Out of the 100 participants, 43 three entrepreneurs from 10 projects were selected to participate in the Bridge portion of the program. They were joined by 16 mentors from 6 different nationalities.
Why is this important?
At Bridge for Billions we believe that entrepreneurship and innovation are the most efficient tools for corporate transformation within any sector.
In the case of Mutualidad Abogacía, through harnessing the power of entrepreneurship, they were able to nurture the entrepreneurial legal talent of tomorrow and pioneer the development of an innovation-centric mindset within the sector.
If you’re an organization looking to bring purpose-driven innovation to your company or sector, contact us here to create your own Corporate Innovation program in less than a month.
