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In today’s global era, law, order, and justice have become necessary factors for maintaining certitude. The demand for legal document preparation approved applications, intellectual property management, and company structure has skyrocketed since the time legal services have emerged as a global phenomenon. Consequently, there’s no doubt that the ever-evolving technology has saturated the entire commercial world in general, making every aspect of life technologically dependent, with the legal technology services and the demand for legal tech startups market being no different.

This advancement of technology in the law field has resulted in the adoption of Legal Technology or as commonly known as Legal Tech that has rapidly changed the legal landscape. We’re interested in describing what’s been termed the Legal Tech market in broad terms. Legal innovation is frequently used to refer to the application of innovation and programming to assist legal advisors and law firms by making their work easier, providing legal services in a much faster and efficient manner, making legal content more accessible to the general public.

What is legal tech startups ?

Legal tech Startups, like its elder and more recognized ‘brother’ FinTech (Financial Technology), is a subset of the larger companies which make use of these legal innovations as a means of providing full legal services through an online platform. These start-ups were aimed at superseding the traditional legal procedural work methods adopted by the legal professionals with newer tech-driven alternatives. In a way, amendments were being made to the legal field’s consumer experience by making it more distinctive.

One of the key consequences and aims of the legal tech business, in terms of technology, is to incorporate a stronger tech dimension into legal practice, so improving the way lawyers do things. It is critical to determine whether these changes or deployments will cause genuine disruption in the industry or simply a slight increase in the time required to provide services to clients.

Why legal tech startups ?

 

Moving away from tradition

The legal technology is intended to reduce the number of physical meetings required for client consultations. Customarily while the aggrieved parties approach lawyers for advice about their difficulties, modern technology allows them to meet online and at any time, even while they are sitting at their computers. This is where the conventional law firm’s practices faced quite a big challenge in the market. A typical law office is bustling with activity and perhaps twice as much administrative work where it takes about 18 to 20 hours for a lawyer to prepare a report in totality.

This expresses the influence on new-age entrepreneurs as well. Legal tech start-ups have the potential to provide something unique in comparison to huge, traditional legal firms: flexibility, which enables businesses to modify their employees’ work processes, aiding in the retention of talent and the stimulation of employee engagement. As young, skilled, and recently graduated lawyers follow entrepreneurial pathways and careers in legal start-ups, this effect will progressively become obvious within traditional law firms’ human resources departments.

Law companies are warming up to technology

The growing demand for the usage of such legal start-ups is evident from the fact that law firms, which are not generally linked with the fast-paced world of tech start-ups, are seeing the value of being near to the action. Even though lawyers have traditionally been labeled as risk-averse and, by extension, tech-averse, more organizations are embracing technology to improve workflow and boost productivity. To achieve a competitive edge, several organizations have formed their innovation arms or partnered with legal-tech firms. Innovative firms tend to outperform their conventional counterparts in terms of performance, revenue, and client relations.

The evolution of legal technology

Legal technology has evolved into a critical component of competition among legal-market entities. Various findings showing that legal technology enables lawyers to generate affordable and accessible innovative solutions and operate in a more comfortable setting, adds to the literature on how the surging demand led to the emergence of new services and business models in the legal industry. Legal tech companies are in high demand in India since they provide diverse and improved options such as education, legal services, technological advancements and play a key role in the economy’s development and progress.

Along with that, they provide a wide range of legal services in a timely, cost-effective, and efficient manner, which benefits not only the customers but also the firm. Heavy investment in this industry is also allowing legal tech businesses to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to innovation. “Legal tech is increasingly receiving money from several sources, including law firms themselves, private equity and venture capital funds,” Jim Leason, Vice President, Customer Markets at Thomson Reuters, stated , “This enthusiasm has provided start-ups with the necessary boost to get their goods off the ground”.

Legal tech startups during the pandemic 

Another cause for an increase in demand for legal tech services is the pandemic, wherein the netizens restricted to their homes welcomed internet online remedies to their so-called physical concerns. Because office visits and actual meetings were forbidden, Legal issues, which have previously been resolved by office visits and face-to-face meetings, are now resolved through the internet. People who were in a state of legal distress were asking for immediate legal advice on divorce and property disputes.

The digitalization of legal profession

As the Coronavirus restricts individuals to their homes, netizens welcome internet remedies to so-called physical problems. Legal issues, which have previously been resolved by office visits and face-to-face meetings, are now resolved through the internet. People who are in any form of legal trouble are looking for ways to obtain immediate legal advice on divorce, property disputes, and other legal matters. Likewise, lawyers who are apprehensive about physical proximity are also seeking ways to take their practice online using well-known technologies as the pandemic has forced the legal profession to rely on technology, such as virtual hearings or videoconferencing, in which counsels and lawyers can appear online for their cases while sitting in their own homes.

It also becomes easy for the bidding lawyers as they’re well equipped with the various technological aspects. “However, with the current generation of lawyers who are themselves tech-savvy, it is much easier to express and exhibit the potential of our platform,” said Himanshu Gupta, founder of legal tech firm Lawyered. COVID-19, on the other hand, has taught everyone throughout the world about the value of digital. Adding on to that, it can also be said that legal technology might just be the answer to the current dilemma, with normal judicial services under strain.

The pandemic has prompted the legal profession to develop and strive toward digitalization, and it has streamlined itself for the better. Such a far reached program also acts as a catalyst in solving the day-to-day legal matters involving families or organizations in the rural arena where it is far more difficult to consult legal professionals physically.

A few legal tech startups in India are listed below

▪ LawRato

LawRato, founded by Rohan Mahajan is an interactive online platform for a real-time video consultation with lawyers, where consumers especially female victims of violent crimes and war widows can get free initial guidance. Its most notable accomplishment was to supply Nirbhaya’s parents with senior lawyers who worked on a pro gratis basis when the case reached the Supreme Court, regardless of financial success.

▪ iPleaders

Launched by Ramanuj Mukherjee and Abhyudaya Agarwal in 2010, iPleaders is an education company that develops and offers online legal and business courses to make legal education more accessible to everyone in the law field through the internet. It maintains an online Business Diploma course in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Law in collaboration with NUJS, Kolkata along with providing an online training material called Bar Hacker for the All-India Bar Examinations.

▪ Presolv360

A popular legal-tech platform located in Mumbai, Presolv360 that specializes in resolving financial issues using digital and media means. Founded by Bhaven Shah and Aman Sanghavi in June 2017, it gives an excellent platform for commercial conflicts to be discussed. For commercial conflicts, it provides an online arbitration option. It assists disputants in reaching an out-of-court settlement that is less expensive, quicker, and more effective.

▪ LegalKart

In the year 2018, Arvind Singhatiya started LegalKart as an online platform that offers legal advice and documentation assistance through an app by paying as low as rupees 249 onwards. Having over 8,000 lawyers in over 800 places, the organization has seen consumers purchase 20,000 minutes per month to discuss legal questions and procedures. It aims at evolving Legal Kart into an AI-enabled system performing advanced case analytics, smart research work, auto contract drafting employing Machine Learning, and integrating an ecosystem of all stakeholders, including clients, lawyers, and enterprises.

Such businesses are also challenging the perception that certain services, such as legal advice, come at a high cost. Instead, legal technology has facilitated the end-users who are financially precarious, to save money on legal counsel. But at the same time, many legal professionals
are apprehensive that digital technology such as AI, machine learning, and others would put their professions at risk. However, there is no confirmation that these risks exist; instead, such technology will supplement lawyers’ powers.

Future Scope

For a few years now, even though legal tech has pervaded the whole legal sphere, every aspect of life must be increasingly technologically advanced. It was observed that well-established firms adopted the strategy of improving these cheaper, simpler services as they attracted fewer profit margins and restrictive mental models which however failed to owe to a lack of emphasis on customers’ needs, a refusal to learn and adapt technologies, and a lack of experimentation. A better way of adopting these new technologies was recognized which implied that there was a need to design the path for the future and acceptance of legal technologies.

Conclusion

It’s no surprise that the future of legal practice will increasingly rely on new technologies, with some sessions possibly taking place electronically. The sector will move beyond traditional law practices or courts to some kind of diagnostic system that will advise
consumers on their legal options, how to gather evidence, and provide alternative conflict resolution methods.

Legal tech is a wanted element emerging into the legal sector, that has rapidly transitioned from a niche market to a major player in the legal profession. Thus, technology law should be taken as a team sport promoted by all for the sake of all shareholders rather than a competition, that must be instead. A game that we must all promote for the sake of our clients and the future growth of the industry.

Credits: Aakash D.

In this period you turned up that the mode of operating media by people has been hasty over the last few decades. From the source of the report, you find that billions of people are operating smartphones and other widgets to pierce forms of media, analogous as listening to music, watching filmland, etc. in this 21^st century has progressed into internet streaming with the intro of companies as Netflix, Hotstar, Spotify, etc in this era. Technology and the innovation that will never go even if pandemic goes and this pandemic has taught us to do everything at home be it movies, food, school, work, and now virtual attorneys.

In India, you see a large number of people who are addicted to using different social media to make their life easy. India has seen adding growth in the operation of these online streaming websites, with the growth of better internet connectivity in the remote corridor of the country. These online services allow consumers multitudinous options and choices of what content they would like to consume.

People oftentimes say that silence is louder and deeper than words but is it true, in this day the audio platform creates a vast impact on legal enterprises it means you have to break your silence and create some impact through the audio platform. In the recent generation, attorneys are gradually serving from the flexibility of remote work. As mindsets towards traditional slipup-and-mortar legal offices evolve, being a virtual legal eagle is turning more common.

A virtual attorney-at-law comes with its gratuities

Being a virtual attorney-at-law comes with its gratuities. Because advocates are not tethered to a traditional office, advocates can save time, lower overhead costs, and work more efficiently. At the same time, advocates can travel between client offices, notaries, and court offices. Yet, virtual attorneys-at-law also needs to consider how they will handle law firm security, ethics, and communication while working virtually.

Virtual attorneys aren’t bound by the traditional nine-to-five operating hours, which means that they can work when and where they need to. The inflexibility from working from different locales and at different times can profit attorneys with children or other commitments that require a more diverse schedule.

Virtual meetings can make your legal services more accessible

Not all public wants to or can meet in person. If you can conduct virtual meetings, your clients can benefit from the increased convenience. Clients with mobility issues or who may not physically be in the city can still participate in meetings with you. Because virtual meetings are more accessible, they also encourage more frequent lawyer-client communication, which is key for a better law firm client communication.

Although the growth of the internet has impacted the world and society including the music diligence, and the powers of internet broadcasters were defended to an extent by the Delhi High Court in the Super Cassettes judgment, the Bombay High Court in the Tips judgment has presented aggressive challenges to the world of online streaming.

Aware of the shift towards online streaming, the amendment to the Copyright Act was brought about to introduce Section 31D still more interpretations are needed with respect to online streaming and internet broadcasters to eventually bring out an end to this long drawn debate of whether internet broadcasters are protected under Section 31D of the Copyright Act, especially since there are no specific guidelines to regulate the manner in which licenses are to be attained by online streaming services.

A virtual attorney is a boon to the legal service sector.

If you have an idea that you wish to give wings to, please reach out to us.

On 3rd June the headlines read, “Government recognizes 50,000 startups across India” and we all clapped our hands. In a short span of 5+ years, the Startup India initiative, executed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), has become successful in creating a vibrant ecosystem of new-age businesses. This being done by recognizing startups, creating engagement, easing compliances, introducing benefits, and iterating. Consequently, in the same timeframe, India’s ranking in World Bank’s ease of doing business index improved from 130 to 63 out of 190 nations. Also, its unofficial startups capital, Bengaluru got the tag of ‘the World’s fastest-growing tech-hub from a UK-based research firm.

In spite of all this glitter, there also lurks the rising asymmetry between the headline policies and their practical application at ground level.

Let’s take a look at some of the compliance mishaps in the Indian Startups Ecosystem:

1. Tax Holiday for Startups: Too good to be true.

a. What is it?:

Under section 80-IAC of the Income Tax Act, startups that have received a tax exemption certificate from the Inter-Ministerial Board (IMB) enjoy tax exemption on profits for 3 consecutive years out of the 1st 10 years of its operations. Amazing!

b. The catch:

i. If your turnover exceeds INR 100 Crore, you cannot claim exemption.
ii. Obtaining the certification is a long-drawn process.
iii. Out of the 50,000 Startups recognized by DPIIT, only 266 startups have received the tax exemption certificate from the IMB till date. That’s less than 1% of the entire lot!
iv. This tells us that only the most innovative and the most scalable startups will get IMB certification. Ironically, these are the very startups that hit the turnover threshold of INR 100 Crore the fastest.

2. Capital Gains exemption for Startups: No practical application.

a. Did you know?

If a person sells her/his residential property to start a Tech Startup, her/his Capital Gains arising out of the sale of such property can be exempted under section 54GB of the Income tax Act.

b. Did you also know?

The exemption comes with a loooong list of conditions that you can read HERE.

c. The catch:

The exemption is only available for IMB certified startups. This means that entrepreneurs of only 266 Companies in this country can claim benefits under section 54GB as of today.

3. ESOP tax deferment scheme for startups: Well thought of but you can’t take benefit.

a. What is it?

ESOPs are a great way to reduce cash flows in early-stage Startups and also for retaining the top quality employees. They’re offered to the
employees at a discount to the fair value of the shares.

b. The problem:

When employees purchase these shares, they’re supposed to pay tax on the differential amount between fair value and the discounted price they actually pay. This means they’re dishing out cash to buy shares and then also paying tax on it. Their fleeting moment only comes when they finally get to sell these shares which often takes 1-3 years at the least.

c. The solution:

In 2020, the GoI finally took cognizance of this problem and decided that employees of Eligible Startups can defer the payment of tax on
ESOPs until they sell their shares or on expiry of 5 years or when they leave the startup, whichever is the earliest. Wow, right?

d. The catch:

Employees of Startups having turnover exceeding INR 25 Crore cannot avail this benefit. That’s a tiny threshold!

e. The bigger catch:

Eligible Startups refer to IMB certified startups only. Which is a coveted group of only 266 Startups as of today.

4. Carve out for carry forward of startups losses: But you again can’t take benefit.

a. You should know:

If there is a significant change in ownership of a company (more than 49% shareholding change) then the losses cannot be carried forward.
Here’s a fact: Most startups incur losses to blitz-scale and most startups issue shares and sell stakes to raise funds. Without the brought forward losses, these startups will have to pay taxes as soon as they make a profit.

b. The solution:

The GoI introduced a carve-out in Section 79 of the Income-tax Act for Eligible Startups, allowing them to carry forward losses as long as all the shareholders continue to hold at least 1 share in the startup.

c. The catch:

By now you know too well. Eligible Startups refer to IMB certified startups only. Which means that most of the startups continue to surrender their losses every time there is a major stake sale. Sigh!

5. Angel Tax exemption for startups: Only good for early stages.

a. You should know:

If a company issues shares at a price more than its fair value, it attracts taxes under section 56(2)(viib) of the Income-tax Act, which is dubbed as ‘Angel tax’.

b. What’s fair value?:

For Income tax purposes, fair value is determined from a Merchant Banker report which conducts a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
valuation of the company. This valuation drill comes at a considerable price which is the problem for early-stage Startups who have little cash to spare.

c. The solution:

DPIIT recognized startups can fill up a simple declaration form at the Startup India portal to exempt themselves from Angel tax. This basically means that these Startups can raise funds by issuing shares in excess of their fair value or basically without bothering a merchant banker for a report.

d. The catch:

While this scheme has clear cash flow benefits for early-stage startups, those that are raising funds in excess of INR 25 Crore (i.e. appx.
$3.5Mil) cannot take advantage of this.

So now you’ll agree that although the GoI has done commendable work in identifying areas where it could extend monetary benefits to startups. These benefits still remain parked in theory books without having any meaningful impact on the startup ecosystem. Carefully structuring your entity and planning your transactions in a way that you can become eligible for the benefits can be a time-consuming process and only adds to the complexities that are already existing.

Article by:

Ritwik Khator, Partner-Chunder Khator Associates

Before jumping into Taxtitop Media, let’s dive deep into OOH cab advertisement. Taxi ads have always had a trademark look, displaying a triangular box that pops out from the roof of the vehicle. Nowadays, taxi ads have come a long way in terms of design and engineering. The new design is metal, LED-lit, recyclable, and has a shiny finish, making the image on ads much more appealing.

A combination of tech advances with traditional benefits of real-world ads has made the world OOH unavoidable for many marketers and advertisers. Especially, OOH taxi ads, the roof panels are double-sided and backlit to attract consumers from opposing angles. The ads placed on the roof of the cab can be spotted from very wide angles and from a very long distance and provide an eye-level point of view advantage over billboards. Cab advertisement can gather a mass volume, allowing brands to literally drive their message all over the town.

In both the traditional taxi and ride-sharing spaces there are thousands of rooftops that could be generating millions of brand impressions but are instead doing almost nothing. With the sophistication of today’s marketing technology, innovators will find success in digital media. This is where Taxitop media comes in handy and helps the brands to gather attraction and help them to advertise their brand in mass traffic. Plus, the brands can allot the specific location or time for their advertisement to run at their convenience. Taxitop Media has collaborated with Uber India to monetize this opportunity via various modes of Advertising in the interior and exterior of the car. Digital Taxi Top Display is a flagship product of Taxitop Media going live by April 2019.

Moving forward with Taxitop, recently pitched at Flowpitch which was held in Bhubaneshwar, and discovered a new flow state with “Freeflow“, the collaboration that was meant to happen and it happened and opened up a lot of new opportunities. With investors indulging and knocking up to the soon-to-be-blown concept and hence, the birth of a newborn hope and finally rating the underrated in the quickly driven market.

Bruce Wayne owns a billion-dollar company, he is an entrepreneur himself and there are a few lessons which we can learn from him.

On account of the batman’s birthday, let’s take a look at the life lessons, his entrepreneurship journey has to offer. Bruce Wayne is the son of Physician Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha.  Martha Wayne was a member of the prominent and wealthy Kane family.  Thomas Wayne’s family reaches back as far as the founding of Gotham City. Well, I am not writing this to enlighten you on the history of the Wayne family. Bruce Wayne owns a billion-dollar company, so Batman is an entrepreneur himself and there are a few lessons which we can learn from him.

Understand your audience deeply:

As a young man, Bruce Wayne left Gotham city, his house, and luxuries of life to shed his celebrity status. He goes on a journey of self-discovery and lives the life of a common man. He even goes to the extent of becoming a criminal himself to understand their mindset.

Most successful businesses begin by noticing a problem for which there isn’t an adequate solution. But the real work comes with getting into the mind of your customers to learn how they think.

Focus on your “why”:

Bruce Wayne starts to eliminate corruption because he had a motive which was to stand against it and carry his parent’s legacy. There was no ego or thunder of revenge involved, only due to he wanted to stand up against those things which his parents stood against. His “why” was all about the desire to carry that legacy.

Bruce Wayne’s ‘why’ is his north star, and motivates him to push through the pain and misery that comes with being Batman.

A good entrepreneur has a bigger mission beyond profits that motivates them to carry on through hard times. The north star that guides them to make decisions that are better for the long term goals of the company.

Don’t wait for the “big launch”:

Bruce is onto something. He knows he wants to become a symbol, but he doesn’t know what that symbol is quite yet. He knows he wants to strike fear in the hearts of criminals, but he doesn’t quite know-how.

Still, none of that stops him from moving forward. He goes back to Gotham and takes over the applied science department at Wayne Enterprises with Lucius Fox. He researches the big players in Gotham, from mob bosses to cops and judges to figure out who can be trusted. His first time going out he wears a ski mask.

This is exactly what you need in your life, you don’t need to wait till you figure every single detail about your plan and then start working on it. Just the idea and willingness to strive and accomplish the goal of success in your business should be enough to get you going, you will eventually figure out things working on your idea with time and soon your entire idea will be in physical form.

Adapt and Improvise:

At one point, Batman realizes his job entails jumping off ledges, and the landings don’t tickle, so he has Lucius Fox build him a cape that can help soften his fall.

He realizes he has to cover long distances he gets his suit designed that way.

This is exactly what young entrepreneurs need in life. Adapting improvising should be your keys to success too. You should look for the space of improvements and work on them until you successfully improve them in your business. As you will offer your services or products in the market, you need to take feedbacks as well, analyze them and improvise your business accordingly.

Learn to build trust and work as a team:

The Dark Knight realized he couldn’t always succeed alone, despite his many gadgets. Like all good entrepreneurs, he built a team. Both Robin and Batgirl were always kept in the loop and were well-trained at using Batman’s gadgets. Likewise, a successful digital transformation needs the right people and skills. It’s not all about getting the right tech – they also need the right talent with the necessary superpowers to address the needs of the business.