Success story with
"Our UpCounsel attorneys provides flexible, on-demand legal services for projects that don’t warrant a full-size firm’s representation and retainer."
Matthew Baier
Built.io COO
Acquired by Software AG, in 2018, Built.io Flow is a cloud integration platform that focuses on quick and easy enablement of integration workflows for enterprise companies.
How does Built.io benefit by working with UpCounsel?
Why Built.io COO Matthew Baier uses UpCounsel:
1. Variety: Matthew describes UpCounsel as a marketplace where users can describe their needs and source project-specific bids from a large community. Legal services don’t typically offer such variety or choice.
2. Flexibility: Matthew says that UpCounsel is the perfect way to handle larger projects as well as day-to-day operations and small undertakings.
3. Quality: Matthew was very pleased with his UpCounsel attorney’s competence and responsiveness as he expertly handled the rigorous legal hurdles inherent to working with Fortune 500 companies as well as the smaller tasks they sent his way.
4. Ease of Use: UpCounsel’s easy-to-use interface and attractive design impressed Matthew from the outset. He also found the portal secure and intuitive, and noted that it speaks to the new generation of emerging companies.
The challenge
As the COO of a software company with more than 200 employees, there’s never a dull moment for Matthew. He leads the company’s operations, marketing, business development and sales.
Somewhere under that wide umbrella of responsibility lies legal.
Before finding UpCounsel, big law firms were Matthew’s go-to for outside counsel services. He was happy with their performance but eventually became increasingly aware of their limitations.
Like most businesses, Matthew selected law firms based on the firm’s core business. Legal needs outside this core realm often got diverted to smaller departments or junior associates or were sometimes even outsourced.
This model didn’t work for Built.io. With a variety of services and customers including Fortune 500 companies as well as startups, the company’s legal needs range far and wide. Matthew wanted to ensure competence and expertise across the full range of their business and legal needs. Built.io didn’t want to sacrifice one area of their business for another – they wanted the best subject matter experts on every topic. As an non-VC funded company, they also needed a legal services model that was both affordable and scalable.
During his search for supplementary legal representation, Mathew heard about UpCounsel from a number of different sources and reached out to learn more about the platform. After speaking with some UpCounsel clients, Matthew signed on.
Matthew was impressed by UpCounsel’s concept, execution and functionality. Matthew describes UpCounsel as part of the “on-demand economy”: a marketplace where users can post a job and select their attorney from the proposals they receive.
Matthew was pleased with his attorney’s competence, responsiveness and ability to handle complex jobs.
The solution
After posting a job and vetting responses, Matthew and Built.io moved forward with Andrew Lachman, a former VP of Legal Affairs for Information Technology at Paramount. They were very pleased with Andrew’s competence, responsiveness and ability to deftly handle both the complex jobs associated with Fortune 500 companies and smaller projects.
Even though Andrew technically works as outside counsel, he’s been able to serve essentially the same role as an in-house counsel at a fraction of the price. Andrew works with Built.io’s numerous complex contracts, serves as counsel during negotiations, and provides advice at various stages of business relationships. Where Built.io’s legal needs don’t warrant a full-size firm’s representation and retainer, Andrew is able to provide legal services when a need arises, on-demand.
This flexibility allows Built.io to get exactly the legal services they need without paying for anything they don’t. Rather than putting off non-urgent projects due to resource unavailability, UpCounsel allows Built.io to cover all of their legal bases and receive quality services in all legal areas.