LexisNexis is refusing to let the coronavirus pandemic derail its Legal Tech Accelerator programme as the company gets ready to welcome its fifth cohort this autumn.

The programme is scheduled to run from September through November in a virtual format due to Covid-19 restrictions, and is currently accepting applications. 

The incubation programme is designed to give legal tech startups a helping hand through LexisNexis’s advice and expertise, and learning sessions featuring Lex Machina chairman Josh Becker and other LexisNexis leaders. The three-month programme is being led by Owen Byrd, Lex Machina’s GC, and Jeff Pfeifer, chief product officer for LexisNexis North America.

Pfeifer said: “After four successful programmes with 26 startup participants, we will be executing in a new format this year. While fully virtual, we will deliver an exciting curriculum for this cohort. Participants have commented on the value each company receives in the programme sessions and from the networking with other legal tech startups.”

Past companies to graduate from the Accelerator include Courtroom5, a legal tech business designed to support people representing themselves in court. Courtroom5’s CEO and co-founder Sonja Ebron acknowledged that joining the programme helped changed her company’s trajectory.

She said: “As part of the 2019 cohort, we deepened our knowledge of legal tech marketing, product development and business operations. Frequent networking opportunities helped us connect with potential mentors and investors. Most importantly, we formed valuable friendships with other founders building innovative legal tech startups.”

The curriculum includes mentorship through weekly sessions with LexisNexis executives on everything from growing a legal tech company through to product development and product marketing. 

It also includes one-hour strategy sessions on various aspects of running a legal tech business, such as how to sell to legal departments and best practices in customer service. 

And it also provides networking opportunities to build relationships with San Fransisco Bay Area schools, businesses, venture capitalists and other influencers.

Byrd said: “Lex Machina successfully traveled the legal tech startup journey, from public interest project at Stanford Law School, to venture-backed Silicon Valley company, to acquisition by LexisNexis and leadership of the legal analytics market.”

He added: “The Accelerator programme directly draws from our experience with product development, fundraising, early sales and marketing, and all the other challenges of launching a company in the legal tech market.”