Ride the Lightning

Will Amazon Enter the Legal Market? It Already Has.

December 3, 2020

Amazon seems to have been on my mind the last couple of days. A very thoughtful post from Legal Mosaic discusses not whether but how and why Amazon will enter the legal market in a big way.

Bob Ambrogi reported in October 2019 on Amazon's launch of IP Accelerator. The initiative is a curated network of IP law firms that provide trademark registration services at pre-negotiated rates. The website touts that "IP Accelerator helps businesses more quickly obtain intellectual property (IP) rights and brand protection in Amazon's stores." It targets small- and mid-sized businesses (SME's)—an enormous, underserved market segment, making it easier and more cost-effective for them to protect their ideas. So there it was, the first move into the legal marketplace.

Will there be more penetration of the legal market? Almost certainly.

Amazon's approach to "high potential ideas" is instructive. Amazon has three criteria that must be satisfied to pursue ideas: (1) an original approach that does not mimic existing models; (2) scalability; and (3) potential for significant return on investment. The trillion-dollar global legal industry meets the Amazon criteria. Law is a fragmented, inefficient industry modeling itself on the past. Even corporate legal departments often operate like law firms.

Jeff Bezos once said, "Your margin is my opportunity." Law's margins are ripe for competition that would reduce cost, drive efficiency, help legal buyers to make more informed decisions, and better serve the unmet needs of corporate and individuals. Amazon really would analyze data, be customer-centric, and scale and enhance customer experience. Amazon's creativity and agility would revolutionize the legal industry – and quickly.

Amazon is legendary in its use of AI to be faster, to seek opportunities and to analyze what customers want now and what they will want next. Amazon also makes the customer experience easy, accessible, transparent and pleasant.

Corporate law firm clients look for multidisciplinary expertise; known firms and people to deliver data-backed solutions at scale and at the speed of business. Amazon could quickly put together a curated network of law firms, law companies, technology providers, consultancies, and other networks in the legal industry. It could also create a data-enriched marketplace for legal buyers to connect directly with various types of legal talent. This would cream the legacy model law firms.

Amazon could do a lot to help the access of justice by giving easy access to a wide spectrum of attorneys, legal professionals, service providers, legal information, self-help tools, products, bots, and other resources. A platform offering a broad array of information and choices—coupled with data-backed profiles and consumer ratings—would create a more accessible, transparent, cost-effective, competitive, and customer-friendly legal marketplace.

Amazon doesn't necessarily have to engage in the practice of law to disrupt the legal industry. It can deploy its platform, data and AI mastery, customer-centricity, and capital to create a global legal marketplace that serves as a hub for legal providers and consumers.

The post talks about Amazon "thinning the herd" which, I suspect, would be the outcome. Most legal service providers don't even have Amazon on their competitor radar screens. That is short-sighted. As Richard Susskind has remarked, "The competition that kills you may not look like you."

While we've moved forward during the pandemic, there is a very long way to go.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225|Fairfax, VA 22030
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