An Opportunity with Gravity

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been a fairly delinquent poster on Right Brain Law as of late, so it’s a little funny to come here to drop news. The fact of the matter is that I just got busy.

But let’s back up and unpack “busy:” I got really hot and heavy posting here not long before I left Avvo. My efforts to post more and the Avvo acquisition – and my subsequent departure – ended up being serendipitous. And the posting, happily, gave me energy as I launched into my new endeavor.

Fast-forward a few months after launch and marketing (i.e. writing and posting on the blog) gave way to fulfillment (i.e. paying work). Ultimately, I fell victim to a classic but understandable entrepreneurship blunder: instead of building a business, I built a job. I succeeded in getting the bills paid and keeping food on the table but since I hadn’t really built my business for it, scale proved elusive.

Around this same time, a client started lobbying me hard to spend more time with them. Gravity Legal is – at least for the time being – a division inside Seattle-based Gravity Payments* focused on payments and money management tools for lawyers and law firms. They were looking for another team member who’d bring legal sector chops and marketing know-how to their initiative. While I was really enjoying doing my own thing, it became pretty clear to me that not only could Gravity Legal provide the scale I was looking for but it was an amazing opportunity. With a mission to break down financial barriers for entrepreneurial law firms, a vision to bring fintech innovation to legal, an incredibly talented team, and the backing of a company like Gravity Payments, it was an offer that was too good to pass up.

So what’s next?

We’ve adopted a bit more of a non-heirarchical structure at Gravity Legal, at least for as long as we remain a part of Gravity Payments, so I’m officially a “Team Member” at Gravity Legal with responsibility for marketing, partnerships, business development, and strategy.

I’m also retaining an advisory/consulting role at another client that I’ve been helping, Off The Record. Who, happily, is also Seattle-based.

Finally, I’m stoked to announce that I’ve hired Irene Mo to help me manage my load with a few remaining smaller clients so that I focus the majority of my energy on Gravity Legal.

It feels like a crazy time to be jumping into something new but I’m really excited about the opportunity and I can’t imagine doing anything else. For what it’s worth, Jack Newton and I talked about the urgency to launch a business into the gulf of a crisis in a recent episode of Clio’s Daily Matters podcast on which I was fortunate enough to be a guest (pick up Jack’s and my lengthy discussion of that particular question here).

How can you help (assuming you feel so inspired)?

Gravity Legal is actively looking for entrepreneurial law firms. If you are one – or if you know one – looking for a scrappy, innovative partner in payments and money management, we’d love to talk.
We’re also actively looking for technology and affinity partners. Practice management and accounting are our focus for the moment, so if you fall into those categories, give us a shout.
Finally, as part of our launch, I’ve started a podcast called Financially Legal in which we discuss the financial and economic aspects of the legal sector and running a law firm. If you dig that kind of thing, we’d love you to take a listen. You can subscribe to our blog (including the podcast) here or find the podcast wherever you normally listen.

Thanks again for all your support over the last couple of years – it’s been almost exactly two years since I decided to leave Avvo. The mission to digitize the law continues and I can’t wait to show you what we’ll do.

Peace!

Dan

*If the name Gravity Payments sounds familiar, the company and CEO made a name for themselves a few years back by raising the salary of every employee to $70,000 per year and, more recently, has been getting great press for the way their team has come together to avoid layoffs in this crisis.