#LegalTechLives with Nehal Madhani, CEO of Alt Legal Nehal Madhani tells us about the biggest misconceptions about IP, the best excuse he has ever heard from a law firm, and why he hopes to own a robot sous-chef one day.
Nehal Madhani After graduating from Penn Law and practicing at Kirkland & Ellis, Nehal Madhani founded Alt Legal. The company’s award-winning software automatically creates and dockets intellectual property filings without manual data entry. Nehal is also a CodeX fellow at Stanford Law School. Ava Chisling: Tell me why you founded Alt Legal and why lawyers need it?
Nehal Madhani: I started Alt Legal after going through the IP prosecution process myself and realizing that it was ripe with repetitive tasks that technology could simplify. IP offices were increasingly transitioning to electronic filings and communications, but many docketing systems were built for a time when IP offices were paperbased. We knew there had to be a better way, so we started building software that could collect IP information and instantly create a new IP filing. Shortly afterwards, we added tools that would connect to IP office databases and automatically identify and update filings and deadlines without manual effort. This helps lawyers avoid spending time on tedious administrative work and reduce the risk of missed deadlines that could result in a loss of IP rights and malpractice. AC: What are the top three misconceptions the general public has about IP? NM: 1. Intellectual property isn’t a one-time kind of transaction. It’s not enough to just file for intellectual property and secure a registration. Filings require ongoing maintenance and renewals. Also, attorneys and IP owners have to be vigilant about protecting intellectual property against infringers. 2. Most people don’t understand the value of IP. It is a critical business asset, and increasingly, companies are being acquired just for the value of their intellectual property. 3. IP is a global area of law and anyone with future expansion plans should consider taking advantage of global IP protections. The US only represents approximately 10% of active global IP filings.
AC: What’s the best excuse you’ve heard for why a firm does not need to embrace technology? NM: “Things are working fine.” It’s amazing to see the many workarounds (and excuses) legal professionals have developed for antiquated processes and software. Yet, when it comes to personal aspects of their life, they all seek the latest Android or Apple phone or tablet. As the same professionals embrace automated, easy-to-use technology in other aspects of their life, we hope to see more legal professionals reject antiquated workflows and tools for their legal work, too. AC: What was the subject of your first-ever school project and how did you research it? Mine was polar bears. All I can remember is that they are actually black. NM: The first-ever school project I can remember is researching the history and evolution of football as a sport in the United States. Sadly, I don’t remember much in the form of specifics other than Harvard calling its game-day “Bloody Monday” back in the 19th century.
“It’s amazing to see the many workarounds (and excuses) legal professionals have developed for antiquated processes and software.” AC: It is early Saturday morning and I am on the Alt Legal website. “Hannah” is trying to communicate with me via pop up message. Tell me about Hannah. She seems very friendly! NM: Hannah is a real person! Sometimes people think she is a (very friendly and brilliant) bot. Hannah is a law school graduate and our
legal product manager, so she really knows the product inside and out, which makes her a great resource for both new and long-time customers. She works with our engineers to research legal processes and develop software to streamline them. She also helps with our operations to ensure that everything is running smoothly. In short, she’s indispensable for Alt Legal. She was recently profiled in Monica Bay’s Women of Legal Tech series on Legaltech News. AC: Humble apologies to Hannah… You are a Python/Django developer. Without searching online, can you name at least one direct link between pythons and Django? If you can name three, you will be the Grand Prize Winner, which comes with no prize. NM: The best I can do is something à la Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Django is part of the movie title Django Unchained, which stars Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson famously starred in Snakes on a Plane. Those were pythons, right? AC: Yes! Well done. As a final question, please tell me about the one technology you hope will be invented as soon as humanly possible. For me, it’s the motorcycle mechanic robot. NM: I’m with you on robots. I’d like to see an affordable, intelligent robot chef that is available for home use. It can start off as a sous-chef and ultimately learn to prepare complete meals by learning my recipes. Thank you for a most enjoyable chat, Nehal. And I am glad Alt Legal and ROSS are aligned in moving people and companies forward with technology.
Tagged in Law, Legal, CEO, Legaltech By Ava Chisling on May 2, 2017. Canonical link Exported from Medium on August 18, 2017.