Legora co-founder and CEO Max Junestrand sits down with BCV partner Merritt Hummer to talk about building an AI platform that automates end-to-end legal workflows.

Max recalls the earliest days, when the pitch to a leading Swedish law firm was refreshingly honest: the founders knew nothing about law, the firm knew little about AI, and each would need the other. The managing partner shook on it, and Legora moved into the firm's offices, eating lunch with its lawyers every day. That firm is now one of its most successful clients.

The discussion digs into the decisions that shaped the company. While the prevailing wisdom said vertical AI companies should train their own models, Legora built its platform to work across every model, so the product improves as the tide rises. Max also explains why lawyers' zero tolerance for error is a gift, pushing the team to build for the last 10 to 20% that general tools skip. Adoption has surprised him too, with partners and senior in-house counsel proving to be some of the sharpest users.

Once Legora's work with two lighthouse clients proved it could serve top US firms from Sweden, the company grew from $1 million to $100 million in ARR in under 18 months and made five acquisitions in a single year.

Max sees smaller teams taking on bigger matters, with human judgment still guiding every client. As he puts it, Legora is only in mile two of a much longer marathon.