‘We’d love to become the trusted ‘dates’ specialists in legal tech’
City lawyer turned founder on the reality of scaling a legal tech startup
Contents
Vicky Jacobs is a former lawyer and now chief product officer at Atria AI, the legal tech startup she co-founded with fellow former City lawyer Reuben Greet-Smith (ex-Ashurst) and Faisal Sultan, an ex-AI engineer at Google.
Atria AI’s flagship product is ‘Deadline Guardian’, a tool that automates the conversion of dates from documents into calendars to prevent (potentially very costly) missed deadlines.
We spoke to Vicky about Atria AI, the journey from lawyer to tech founder, and what it takes to launch a startup in the legal tech space.
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It all started one summer weekend
Tell us about Atria AI - what is the product and what problem does it solve?
The rise in generative AI has created problems for many law firms.
Before they can use the technology, they first have to decide if they're going to:
- Build it internally (costly and many view it as a distraction from their business of law);
- Build their own innovation teams to test off-the-shelf solutions (costly and time consuming and ultimately not tailored to their firms); or
- Enter into a strategic partnership with a provider (and risk being the proving ground which could also be costly and time consuming).
Our platform, Pathfinder, offers the innovation capability of a large law firm at a fraction of the cost.
It’s designed to empower legal professionals by providing tailored AI solutions that streamline routine tasks, allowing lawyers to focus on delivering high-value services to their clients.
Pathfinder offers law firms a personalised experience because they get to pick and choose any number of highly developed use case solutions like an “a la carte menu”.
Why did you start the business?
As with most lawyers, I’d often find myself scrolling through a massive document late into an evening wondering if there was a quicker / better / more accurate way of getting from A to B.
Sure, I’d create my own short-cuts and delegate things, but underpinning so much of legal work is a sequence of the same repetitive manual tasks: extracting information from one document and putting it into another or into some other actionable form.
One summer weekend last year (feels very serendipitous now), I happened to discuss advancements in tech with both Faisal and Reuben, and Atria was founded a few months later.
Faisal is ex-Google AI and Reuben a former Ashurst finance lawyer, so it felt like the right team to start addressing some of these things.
Our mission is to empower legal professionals by automating the tasks they enjoy less, allowing them to concentrate on the cerebral, contextualising stuff most lawyers love.
How Atria AI differs from competitors
Can you walk us through the technology behind your product? What kind of AI or machine learning models are you using?
Pathfinder is built on the Google Cloud Platform.
We've created an ensemble of machine learning and large language models that work together to understand and process legal documents.
What makes our solution special is its cognitive architecture that combines both rule-based and probabilistic thinking - kind of like having both a methodical lawyer and an intuitive legal expert working together.
We're focused on making the technology feel natural and intuitive for legal professionals, automating routine tasks while keeping the user experience smooth and straightforward.
Think of it as bringing AI's capabilities to legal work in a way that actually makes sense for daily practice.
It's like having a methodical lawyer and an intuitive legal expert working together
What differentiates Atria AI from competitors in the legal tech space?
Pathfinder differs by offering both specialist solutions and a general legal assistant within a single, user-friendly modular platform - like an app store.
Every law firm operates its own tech stack and no two tech stacks are exactly the same.
Pathfinder is designed to complement the individual needs of a law firm by giving them a "pick and choose” menu.
For example, we built ‘Deadline Guardian: Never Miss a Deadline’, a tool that addresses the common issue of missed deadlines in legal practice (this has been in the top 10 of risk areas for the 20 years I’ve been in law - so clearly something is broken and existing solutions don't work!).
The module automates the conversion of dates from documents into diaries and also integrates a verification process for accuracy, reducing human-error and the time spent on deadline management by up to 92%.
Like a few other general legal assistants on the market, Pathfinder also provides evidence-backed answers, showing workings and sources, which is essential for legal professionals who require certainty and reliability in their AI tools.
Missed deadlines have been in the top 10 of risk areas for the 20 years I’ve been in law - clearly something is broken
How legal tech is changing the game
How do you see AI transforming the legal industry in the next 5-10 years?
I think it will become an integral part of the legal industry, but its impact will hinge on deploying reliable, data driven solutions that genuinely enhance lawyers' work.
Lawyers are trained to be sceptical and discerning: if we are oversold and then underwhelmed by new offerings, the progress of transformation will not live up to current hype.
If we can get the right guardrails and the right products to the right people in law, then I foresee an exciting opportunity for AI to empower lawyers to address many unmet legal needs and ultimately enhance access to justice.
Have you encountered resistance from lawyers or law firms adopting AI, and how have you addressed that?
From some, to begin with yes, rightly so! Some were wary of a poisoned chalice or a chocolate tea-pot.
As a lawyer, I experienced unreliable tools and would often revert to manual processes - despite my frustrations - because I couldn’t afford the time to change my ways of working.
Adoption therefore needs careful, people driven implementation.
We’ve heard the full range of opinions from forward thinking innovators keen for improvement, to those happy with the status quo, to those genuinely worried by change hoping it doesn’t bite under their watch.
We’ve listened and taken on board all feedback kindly given and some minds just aren’t going to change. But, for the most part, we’ve demonstrated that Pathfinder is all about empowering the lawyer and removing computer fatigue - and then we get excitement and curiosity as a common response!
Importantly, we say it's crucial to have a go - really get stuck in with Pathfinder - try their own use cases.
One powerhouse litigation law firm said they wanted a trial with us for the express purpose of seeing if they could break Pathfinder! Once we understand limitations, we can improve.
Most of our lawyer-users see AI adoption akin to transitioning from fax to email or from a landline phone to a smartphone. Ultimately, once you’ve used a smartphone, few people go back to their bricks.
Adoption of legal tech needs careful, people driven implementation
The business model, and getting a leg up from Slaughters
What is your business model? Are you primarily targeting law firms, in-house legal teams, or individual users?
We primarily target mid-tier law firms.
We aim to provide them with the innovation capabilities typically reserved for larger firms, all at a fraction of the cost.
How have you scaled the business so far, and what challenges have you encountered during the scaling process?
We’ve scaled strategically, beginning with a minimal viable product that, despite its early bugs, earned the trust of pilot customers all of whom became loyal subscribers.
This enabled us to expand our tech team and develop a more robust beta version.
We’re now transitioning users to beta and onboarding a growing group of early adopters, including three law firms and an in-house team from a FTSE 100 company, whose insights are invaluable as we refine the platform further.
The scaling process has presented its share of challenges - from making difficult feature trade-offs to navigating the ups and downs of fundraising.
But we’re incredibly grateful for the privilege of building something that has a real impact. With our clients’ support and feedback, our trajectory looks bright, and we’re excited to keep moving forward in this journey, creating solutions that make a difference.
We're onboarding three law firms and an in-house team from a FTSE 100 company, whose insights are invaluable
You were part of Slaughter and May’s legal tech programme. Can you tell us how that worked and how that helped you?
Slaughter and May’s programme, Collaborate, was invaluable for us. As well as the core sessions, we received a programme that was tailored to our specific needs as a company and as founders individually.
The Collaborate team were incredible and supportive, helping us refine and iterate Deadline Guardian.
We were also given so many opportunities to showcase our offering internally at Slaughters and with their client innovation network providing incredible feedback.
Overall, it was incredible validation - our vision and product had market fit! This can take legal tech start ups a long time to get outside of this environment.
Future plans
What upcoming features or innovations are you most excited about for Atria AI?
We’d love to become the trusted “dates” specialists in legal tech.
Deadline Guardian is just the first of our solutions in this area. I’m excited to be exploring all the ways lawyers interact with and encounter “dates” in their legal processes.
Next up is an innovative Chronology module which doesn’t just examine explicit dates but builds narratives around the events.
Longer term, and to give our clients the future proofing they need, we have lots of modules mapped out on our roadmap.
Like the rest of the industry, we feel like we've only touched the surface of what generative AI can do and will be capable of doing in the near future.
By autumn 2025, we plan to have rolled out packages of modules in areas such as finance, compliance, and employment among others all of which incorporate the advancements in AI.
The transition from lawyer to entrepreneur
You raised a round of seed investment from angels. Can you tell us how much you raised, the type of investors, and what you’ll use the money for?
We’re pleased to have raised £330,000 in our pre-seed round so far, largely from angel investors, with strong backing from law firm partners who see Pathfinder’s potential.
Given the high interest, we’re exploring opportunities for additional experienced partners to join us as we grow. We’re also in discussions with seed VCs and have recently received a term sheet, which is encouraging as we continue to build valuable industry partnerships.
The capital will help expand our tech team, enhance platform features, and scale client onboarding.
We’re grateful for the support of investors who bring both financial backing and industry insights, and we look forward to growing with like-minded partners.
You are a lawyer turned entrepreneur - what’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned about the transition?
I think I was always an entrepreneur really - as a kid I tried convincing my dad (an engineer) to build and monetise a car powered by sand - it just took the right co-founder mix and tech advancements for my ambitions to come together.
I will always be grateful that I qualified as a disputes solicitor and practised in such an intense field for so long as it taught me to have epic amounts of resilience, an objective appreciation of risk and attention to detail.
In contrast, this start-up has taught me the importance of adaptability and a willingness to embrace uncertainty to an extent.
I will always be grateful that I qualified as a disputes solicitor and practised in such an intense field - it taught me to have epic amounts of resilience, an objective appreciation of risk and attention to detail
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addleshaw Goddard | £52,000 | £56,000 | £100,000 |
| Akin Gump | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Baker McKenzie | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Bird & Bird | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Bristows | £46,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Burges Salmon | £47,000 | £49,000 | £72,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | £50,000 | £53,000 | £88,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | £57,500 | £62,500 | £164,500 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clyde & Co | £47,000 | £49,500 | £85,000 |
| CMS | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Cooley | £55,000 | £60,000 | £157,000 |
| Davis Polk | £65,000 | £70,000 | £170,000 |
| Debevoise | £55,000 | £60,000 | £173,000 |
| Dechert | £55,000 | £61,000 | £165,000 |
| Dentons | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| DLA Piper | £50,000 | £55,000 | £110,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Farrer & Co | £47,000 | £49,000 | £88,000 |
| Fieldfisher | £48,500 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Freshfields | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Fried Frank | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gibson Dunn | £60,000 | £65,000 | £180,000 |
| Goodwin Procter | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gowling WLG | £48,500 | £53,500 | £98,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| HFW | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| Hill Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Irwin Mitchell | £43,000 | £45,000 | £76,000 |
| Jones Day | £56,000 | £65,000 | £160,000 |
| K&L Gates | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Kennedys | £43,000 | £46,000 | £85,000 |
| King & Spalding | £55,000 | £60,000 | £165,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Latham & Watkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Mayer Brown | £55,000 | £60,000 | £135,000 |
| McDermott Will & Emery | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Milbank | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Mills & Reeve | £45,000 | £47,000 | £82,000 |
| Mischon de Reya | £47,500 | £52,500 | £95,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | £50,000 | £55,000 | £135,000 |
| Orrick | £55,000 | £60,000 | £160,000 |
| Osborne Clarke | £54,500 | £56,000 | £94,000 |
| Paul Hastings | £60,000 | £68,000 | £173,000 |
| Paul Weiss | £55,000 | £60,000 | £180,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | £48,000 | £50,000 | £83,000 |
| Pinsent Masons | £49,500 | £54,000 | £97,000 |
| Quinn Emanuel | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Reed Smith | £50,000 | £55,000 | £125,000 |
| Ropes & Gray | £60,000 | £65,000 | £165,000 |
| RPC | £46,000 | £50,000 | £90,000 |
| Shoosmiths | £43,000 | £45,000 | £97,000 |
| Sidley Austin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £175,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons | £52,000 | £57,000 | £120,000 |
| Skadden | £58,000 | £63,000 | £173,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | £47,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | £50,000 | £55,000 | £100,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Taylor Wessing | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| TLT | £44,000 | £47,500 | £85,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | £45,000 | £49,000 | £80,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £173,077 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | £50,000 | £55,000 | £102,000 |
| Weightmans | £34,000 | £36,000 | £70,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| White & Case | £62,000 | £67,000 | £175,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| Withers | £47,000 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
Rank | Law Firm | Revenue | Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper* | £3,010,000,000 | £2,400,000 |
| 2 | Clifford Chance | £2,300,000,000 | £2,040,000 |
| 3 | A&O Shearman | £2,200,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 4 | Hogan Lovells | £2,150,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 5 | Freshfields | £2,120,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 6 | Linklaters | £2,100,000,000 | £1,900,000 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fulbright* | £1,800,000,000 | £1,100,000 |
| 8 | CMS** | £1,620,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills | £1,300,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 10 | Ashurst | £961,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 11 | Clyde & Co | £844,000,000 | £739,000 |
| 12 | Eversheds Sutherland | £749,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 13 | BCLP* | £661,000,000 | £748,000 |
| 14 | Pinsent Masons | £649,000,000 | £793,000 |
| 15 | Slaughter and May*** | £625,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 16 | Simmons & Simmons | £574,000,000 | £1,076,000 |
| 17 | Bird & Bird** | £545,000,000 | £696,000 |
| 18 | Addleshaw Goddard | £495,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 19 | Taylor Wessing | £480,000,000 | £915,000*** |
| 20 | Osborne Clarke** | £456,000,000 | £771,000 |
| 21 | Womble Bond Dickinson | £448,000,000 | £556,000 |
| 22 | DWF | £435,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 23 | Fieldfisher | £407,000,000 | £966,000 |
| 24 | Kennedys | £384,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 25 | DAC Beachcroft | £325,000,000 | £700,000 |
What do City lawyers actually do each day?
For a closer look at the day-to-day of some of the most common types of lawyers working in corporate law firms, explore our lawyer job profiles:
| Firm | London office since | Known for in London |
|---|---|---|
| Baker McKenzie | 1961 | Finance, capital markets, TMT |
| Davis Polk | 1972 | Leveraged finance, corporate/M&A |
| Gibson Dunn | 1979 | Private equity, arbitration, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Goodwin | 2008 | Private equity, funds, life sciences |
| Kirkland & Ellis | 1994 | Private equity, funds, restructuring |
| Latham & Watkins | 1990 | Finance, private equity, capital markets |
| Milbank | 1979 | Finance, capital markets, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Paul Hastings | 1997 | Leveraged finance, structured finance, infrastructure |
| Paul Weiss | 2001 | Private equity, leveraged finance |
| Quinn Emanuel | 2008 | Litigation |
| Sidley Austin | 1974 | Leveraged finance, capital markets, corporate/M&A |
| Simpson Thacher | 1978 | Leveraged finance, private equity, funds |
| Skadden | 1988 | Finance, corporate/M&A, arbitration |
| Weil | 1996 | Restructuring, private equity, leverage finance |
| White & Case | 1971 | Capital markets, arbitration, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Law firm | Type | First-year salary |
|---|---|---|
| White & Case | US firm | £32,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | International | £30,000 |
| A&O Shearman | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | International | £28,000 |
| Freshfields | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | Silver Circle | £28,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | International | £28,000 |
| Linklaters | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Mishcon de Reya | International | £28,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | International | £28,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Firm | Merger year | Known for in London |
|---|---|---|
| BCLP | 2018 | Real estate, corporate/M&A, litigation |
| DLA Piper | 2005 | Corporate/M&A, real estate, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Eversheds Sutherland | 2017 | Corporate/M&A, finance |
| Hogan Lovells | 2011 | Litigation, regulation, finance |
| Mayer Brown | 2002 | Finance, capital markets, real estate |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 2013 | Energy, resources and infrastructure, insurance, finance |
| Reed Smith | 2007 | Shipping, finance, TMT |
| Squire Patton Boggs | 2011 | Corporate/M&A, pensions, TMT |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £52,000 | £57,000 | £125,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
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