AMITY UNIVERSITY, UTTAR PRADESH

RESEARCH PAPER ON: ‘LEGAL

ENTREPRENEURSHIP GROWTH AND MODERN
TRENDS’

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Ms. Shweta Arora Tanya Saxena (A3221516171)
Assistant Professor Manas Agrawal (A3221516204)
Basics of Entrepreneurship for Lawyers B.B.A., LL.B. (H)
SECTION - C
SEMESTER - 5
 ABSTRACT

In simplest words, an Entrepreneur refers to a person who organizes, manages and assumes
the risks of a business or enterprise. With the advent of time, dynamics of the
entrepreneurship industry has witnessed a great shift in its paradigm. Earlier Law and
entrepreneurship were two completely distinct fields without any sort of interrelation or
overlapping between them. However, with the passage of time, the interrelation between the
two fields as well as its importance was gradually realized. Hence, Legal entrepreneurship
emerged as a distinct field of study majorly focusing on the intersection between law and
entrepreneurship.

Legal entrepreneurship thus refers to the very fine point where the two extremely vast
paradigms of Law and Entrepreneurship meet. It includes within its scope not only the laws
which essentially govern, regulate and ensure smooth functioning of entrepreneurs along
with the persons providing assistance with such laws and regulations to the entrepreneurs
but it also includes all those entrepreneurs who have entered in the field of law with
innovative ideas to provide legal assistance. These entrepreneurs aim not only at providing
new generation, fast and high tech legal services to its costumers usually through online
services but also to create more opportunities for the individuals engaged in the field of law.

Through this research article, the researchers would primarily aim at understanding and
shedding light over the dynamics of the newly emerged field of Legal Entrepreneurship. In
addition, they will attempt to classify and discernment the paradigms which fall under the
scope of this newly emerged field. Furthermore, the researchers will also focus on the
statutes governing, regulating and affecting the entrepreneurs in India. The advent of time
necessitates to understand, analyse and help in advancement of this this newly emerging field
of Legal Entrepreneurship for the overall upliftment of the society.
 I. INTRODUCTION

Law is seldom associated with entrepreneurs. Lawyers are a cautious bunch focused on
precedent, risk containment, and usually tend to be more of reactive rather being
imaginative. Entrepreneurs are a completely unique breed. They create new business models
in response to market voids, deploying risk capital to achieve customer satisfaction and scale.
Entrepreneurs require passion, knowledge, vision, process, resources, expertise, execution,
results, performance metrics, constant improvement, collaboration, transparency, scalability,
and access to capital.

A raft of entrepreneurs is entering the legal space. They are tapping into latent demand for
access to legal services as well as expertise which could be differentiated, efficient, cost-
effective, predictive, digitized, and scalable legal products and services for corporate legal
buyers. Entrepreneurs are merging legal, technological, and process expertise and capital to
reengineer legal delivery and provide easy, affordable access.  A law license is not
necessarily required, but industry knowledge and capital without any doubt are.

The convergence of the global financial crisis, a remarkable acceleration of technological

advances, and globalization have produced an atmosphere conducive to legal entrepreneurs.
The financial crisis and its aftermath forever changed the selling-purchasing dynamics of
goods and services which even includes law included within its scope. ‘More with less’ is the
new normal.

Technological advances like that of cloud computing, smart phones, social media, artificial
intelligence, and numerous other applications have altered the way people live, think and
work. The agile workforce, gig economy, transparency, predictive power of data, metrics, and
collaboration of humans and machines has accelerated disaggregation and turbo-charged the
growth of law companies, legal tech, and legal operations. Law is no longer solely about
lawyers, and law firm demand is stale even as demand for legal services is rising consistently.

Globalism has created challenges and opportunities for business that legal expertise alone
cannot address. Corporate legal buyers must navigate an intricate web of often-conflicting
regulations and a new array of existential enterprise threats such as cybersecurity, data
protection, and the impact of social media to cite a few. This requires differentiated expertise
in law, technology, and business that is versatile, lithe, geologically scattered, and digitized.
Legal Entrepreneurs are answering this challenge. Legal entrepreneurs have come up with
innovative ideas of providing legal help and services. These innovative and extraordinary
ideas of providing legal assistance have proved extremely helpful not only for the people in
need of such assistance but for various other sections of our society, especially the legal and
entrepreneurial industry and fraternity as it has opened numerous opportunities for the
individuals working in these sectors. Legal entrepreneurship also includes within its wide
ambit the provision of legal assistance to the entrepreneurs especially in case of some specific
laws which govern, regulate and affect them such as Laws related to Copyright, Trademarks,
Patents, IPR. Some of these statutes have been discussed in detail in the forthcoming parts of
the paper.

Clients and not lawyers in this modern era determine value, risk tolerance, and required
expertise. Legal entrepreneurs are addressing these customer needs, providing predictive
tools, performance metrics, predictable pricing, digitized processes, 24/7/365 access,
transparency, and the right resources for the right task/matter. Entrepreneurs and not law firm
are responding to the ‘more with less’ challenge.

Law has several challenges including a distribution problem, an access to justice crisis, and a
high-degree of consumer dissatisfaction. Legal entrepreneurs are circumnavigating antiquated
regulations to respond to these challenges. They are deploying capital, technology, and legal,
business and other required expertise to provide retail and corporate consumers easier access
to and efficient delivery of legal services. Legal expertise is no longer synonymous with legal
delivery; it is a component that is being leveraged by new business and economic models.  
II. NEED FOR LEGAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Far too little has changed over the years in the legal space in India. The country is yet to catch
up with the growth level it is experiencing. For global investors, ease of business is a premier
criterion for venturing into any country, and in India the lack of speedy judiciary processes
along with mounting pressure on the aging courts have been the red tapes.

The country possesses exceptional potential in the information technologies, manufacturing,

shipping, finance and R&D industries; but to accelerate further interest and for ease of
business, it has to upgrade its legal and public-sector efficiency in the next phase of action.
That way, we will be truly on course to take on other major countries that have set an
example. It is time we have a reformation and the only forward is through entrepreneurship.

At the moment, the legal sector in India is a crowded and cluttered space, with about 1.2
million lawyers in the country; along with 400,000 to 500,000 studying law at this very
minute, churning out approximately 60,000 to 70,000 graduates every year. While the figures
seem dense, comparatively India has just 1 lawyer for every 1,000; as against 1 in every 260
in the US and 1 in every 500 in the UK.

To be brutally honest, the majority of lawyers in India are poorly educated often with
questionable degree certificates from one of nearly 1000 law colleges. Most of these
graduates end up on high streets working as affidavit hawkers or notaries outside of small
courts. The well-educated ones end up either in the corporate sector or as legal assistants to
existing lawyers scattered across the country.

India seems to have its fair share of legal entrepreneurs but from the wrong end of the scale.
Recently, the Bar Council of India (BCI) after two years of rigorous investigation has
uncovered that 45% of lawyers in the country have been improvising and operating under
bogus degrees. The only way we can change this failing system is when we go corporate –
through the development of legal firms. There is currently a gap in the market and innovators
and dynamic individuals can fill the space to bring about a change in the way businesses
operate. Boutique law firms with educated and forward legal experts and partners would give
a stiff new angle for the way legal professions operate. This would also go on to help building
a brand mileage and reputation, something which the Indian public largely look out for as
they are often left unaware of the reputation of a legal counsel they deal with. If we develop
such an ecosystem of fresh new business practices, these start-ups can also potentially partner
with international firms to have a cross country knowledge sharing.

The second bit of entrepreneurial innovation we need in the legal space in India is for phasing
in digitalisation – from case files to court proceedings. Although with the magnitude of
India’s legal network, cases, courts and proceedings, we cannot expect this to be
accomplished immediately, but we definitely need to start the process of change making.

For introducing ICTs and digitalisation, it needs innovation – something where enterprisers

can fill the void. Introducing such innovative business practices would mean that the rest of
the industry would catch up and be forced to evolve their practices to survive. All these
developments would help in unclogging the whole legal system in India and bringing about a
dynamic atmosphere.   
III. LEGAL ISSUES FACED BY ENTREPRENEURS

While a lot of entrepreneurs at least have a basic understanding of the law, most of them fail
to think about the legal implications of starting a company. The legal issues facing small
business are some of the most important to take care of. In some cases, not addressing these
legal issues could have very negative consequences for your business. Entrepreneurs need to
be aware of not only the problems but also what they can do to prevent potential problems
with their products or services.

Intellectual property

It means any innovation, commercial or artistic or any unique name, symbol, logo or design.
It includes patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. It represents assets to the
entrepreneur and should be understood even before engaging the services of the attorney. Too
often entrepreneurs, because of their lack of understanding of intellectual property, ignore
important steps that they should have taken to protect these assets. Intellectual property is an
asset for the entrepreneur.

Patents

A patent is a contract between the government and an inventor. In exchange for disclosure of
the invention, the government grants the inventor exclusively regarding the invention for a
specified amount of time. A patent gives its holder the right to exclude others from making,
using, offering to sell, or selling the patented invention in a country or importing the
invention into a country. A patent does not grant its owner the right to make, use, offer to sell,
or sell the patented invention; as such, one can have a patent but not be able to use the
patented invention if it would infringe on an existing patent. Generally, U.S. patents last 20
years from the date the application is filed with USPTO.

An invention must fit into one of the following categories of subject matter in order to be
patented are machine, manufacture, process, composition of matter, biological plant,
ornamental design. Anything man -made that is new, useful, and non - obvious may be
patented. I t grants the inventor exclusivity to make use and sell the invention for specified
amount of time and territorial. The holder of the patents hols the monopoly for certain period
and after that it passes into public domain.
Patents are divided into three types:

1. Utility patents- A utility patent has a term of 20years, beginning on the date of filling
with the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). It usually grants the owner protection
from anyone else making, using, and/or selling the identified invention and generally
reflects protection of new, useful, and unobvious processes.
2. Design patent- Covering new, original, ornamental, and unobvious design for the
articles of manufacture, a design patent reflects the appearance of an object. These
patents Are granted for a 14 years term.
3. Plant patent- These are issued under the same provisions as utility patents and are for
new varieties of plants.

Trademarks

A trademark maybe any distinct word, name, symbol, or device used to identify a source of
goods or services. A mark is distinctive if it is fanciful- made-up term, e.g., kodak for
cameras, arbitrary- term that has no connection to the product with which it is associated,
e.g., apple for computers, and suggestive- term that suggests a connection to the product with
which it is associated, e.g., Microsoft for computer software. It is a term that describes the
product with which it is associated and that has become associated with the product in the
minds of the consuming public. A mark is not distinctive if it is generic. A mark is generic if
consumers associate the mark with the product rather than the producer.

Unlike the patent, a trademark can last indefinitely, as long as the mark continues to perform
its indicated function. A trademark is given an initial 20-year registration with 20-year
renewable terms. Trademark law allows the filing of a trademark solely on the intent to use
the trademark in interstate or foreign commerce. The filing date becomes the first date use of
the mark. This does not imply that the entrepreneur cannot file after the mark already been in
use. In fact, there are benefits to registering mark that has already been in use. There are four
categories of trademarks:

1. Coined mark- It denotes no relationship between mark and good.

2. Arbitrary mark- It is one that has another meaning in language and is applied to a
product or service,
3. Suggestive mark- It tends to suggest some describable attribute of the product or
service.
4. Descriptive mark- It is descriptive of a particular product or service.
Copyrights

A copyright protects original work of authorship. The protection in a copyright does not
protect the idea itself, and thus it allows someone else to use the idea or concept in a different
manner. It protects works of authorship, such as writing, music and works of art that have
been tangibly engaged. It stops other from printing, copying or publishing the work of author.
The term of copyright is life of author plus 50 years and 75 years for an institution.
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered "territorial rights".
This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not extend beyond the
territory of that specific jurisdiction. These types of copyrights vary by country, many
countries, sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries
how to act in crossing border situations and when national rights collide. Copyright owners
enjoy the exclusive right to:

1. Reproduce the copyrighted work e.g., make copies of copyrighted software

2. Prepare derivative works of the copyrighted worker e.g., film a movie based on a
copyrighted novel
3. Distribute the copyrighted work e.g., sell DVDs of a copyrighted film
4. Perform the copyrighted work publicly e.g., perform a copyrighted play
5. Display the copyrighted work publicly e.g., hang a piece of copyrighted art in a public
place.

Trade secrets

They are commercially valuable information not generally known or readily ascertainable, if
reasonable efforts are used to keep secret. Any formula, pattern, device or compilation of
information used in a business that gives the trade secret owner an opportunity to obtain an
advantage over competitor who do not know it. The trade secret cannot be public knowledge.
Examples—Coca-Cola formula, proprietary blend of chemicals.

A trade secret is not covered by any federal law but is recognised under a governing body of
common laws in each state. Employees involved in working with an idea or process may be
asked to first sign a confidential information agreement that will protect against their giving
out trade secret either while an employee or after leaving the organisation. The entrepreneur
should hire an attorney to help draw up any such agreement.
IV. ENTREPRENUERS RESHAPING THE LEGAL INDUSTRY

Start-ups will continue to drive down the cost of standard legal matters: For lawyers
who want to capture the business, they’ll need to compete on price. Businesses will often run
at the start on shoe-string budgets and, in the early phases, the cost-benefit analysis of
investing in experienced legal counsel attracts them to 'Do-it-Yourself' sites across the
internet. Using these sites result in a wide range of mixed consequences, some of which wind
up being costlier down the line. In either event, as long as a low-cost alternative exists,
lawyers who want this business will need to be more price sensitive than ever before.

Firm consolidation could be on the horizon: With sophisticated document review and
legal search technologies, tasks that used to take a long time can now be done much more
quickly. People will be willing to pay a premium for the advice of a true legal expert,
technology will significantly reduce a client’s appetite for paying for time spent training
junior associates- Legal tech start-ups have eliminated a lot of the work junior associates used
to do, so the firm model of having junior attorneys get trained over time by working on these
routine matters, is no longer efficient. As a result, fewer junior attorneys are being hired and
the entire pyramid structure of firms is shifting.

Disruption to the law firm model will continue: From how people find lawyers, to how
firms find talent, to how lawyers collaborate and provide legal services, there are many areas
where the legal industry can be improved, leaving the door wide open for those who can spot
an opportunity and provide a meaningful solution. As these solutions continue to emerge,
law firms will be forced to change in order to stay competitive. It's taken an earthquake of a
recession to expose the inefficiencies that have long plagued large firms, including the widely
despised billable hour and the pyramid structure. For the first time in a long time, disruptive
change looms, and a growing number of law firm managers know they must evolve. Yet
despite their good intentions and a clear client mandate to get with the program, law firm
leaders are unable to separate their firms from the old ways of doing things. Though many of
the law firm leaders are aware of the need to change, they are uncertain about the way
forward. Nevertheless, innovation is coming, with or without Big Law. Overseas
outsourcing of legal work is enjoying an improbable bump. Onshore, new model firms that
operate without the overhead and partnership of the traditional firm

Lawyers will continue to become entrepreneurs: Whether by choice, or in reaction to the

economy, the proverbial lawyer hanging up a shingle is back with an entrepreneurial
vengeance. And these days, running a start-up law firm is not too far from running a tech
start-up, but with the added responsibility of regulation and ethical scrutiny. Lawyers are
increasingly using social media, hosting blogs, speaking on panels and leveraging technology
to build a practice on a shoe string and deliver high quality legal services to clients at a
reasonable price. Lawyers have additional challenges like ethical regulations on marketing,
ownership regulations which affect building your team, and financing issues that are far
stricter than for non-legal companies. Lawyers have to learn to become not only subject
matter experts, but also marketing, sales, financing and operational experts to run a successful
practice.
V. CONCLUSION

There is a traditional view of lawyers as the enemies of entrepreneurs. The risk-averse

attitude of lawyers often frustrates business leaders who complain of over-lawyering and
objection-raising when receiving advice from their counsel. There are a number of reasons
for this lack of entrepreneurial sensitivity among lawyers. The substantial part of the Indian
legal system rests on guidance from previous case law and focuses heavily on precedent and
risk-spotting instead of breaking stuff and disruption associated with fast-growth companies.

Worldwide the legal services industry faces major challenges due to technological and social
developments. Especially the application of technology such as Data Analysis, Artificial
Intelligence and Cloud Computing has had a major impact on the industry. As in many
businesses, this technological development started with the automation of administrative
processes. In doing so, manual work was replaced by automated systems. Next came the
development towards computerization. Information that was first reserved to knowledge
workers was made widely available, for example via the internet. The current phase is called
digitization in which legal processes are (almost) completely executed by systems. The
introduction of all these forms of technology in the legal field is collectively referred to as
'Legal Tech'. Lawyers are leaving the safe and well-paying world of law to build their own
fast-growing, tech-first companies. These lawyer-entrepreneurs are helping create what have
been called “legaltech” companies, using major advances in technology, including artificial
Intelligence, to solve archaic practices in the daily practice of law, which have remained
unchanged for decades. This boom has helped create a slew of new companies disrupting the
way legal services is delivered.

Today, Legal Tech has developed into a business where start-ups disrupt the legal services
industry. This is done, for example, by offering online services that involves no actual
intervention by a lawyer or notary, such as the online drafting of an employment contract. Or,
by using Data Analysis, to develop knowledge about the future demand for new legal
services.

Legal entrepreneurship and innovation have a significant impact on the organization and
business models of legal service providers. This also requires an adaptation in the knowledge
and skills of lawyers in training. As entrepreneurs continue to set their sights on the law, it
will be interesting to see the rate in which the legal industry will adapt and embrace change.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. BOOKS
1. Hisrich Peters Shepherd. Entrepreneurship (Sixth Edition). New Delhi:
Tata McGraw- Hill Publishing Company Limited
2. Desai, V. (2010). Entrepreneurial Development. New Delhi: Himalaya
Publishing House.

II. ARTICLES AND JOURNALS

1. Law and Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Volume 98 Issue 6 September
2013 - Symposium: Law, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
2. How Entrepreneurship Is Reshaping the Legal Industry, Cari Sommer
3. So, You Want to Become A Legal Entrepreneur? By Peter Carayiannis
4. The Golden Age of The Legal Entrepreneur -- Why Now and Why It
Matters, Mark A. Cohen
5. Why the Legal Sector needs Entrepreneurs, Sarosh Zaiwalla, Founder and
Senior Partner of Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors

III. WEBSITES
1. Saikat Pyne (2016, August 6). India’s start-up Laws, an entrepreneur’s
checklist https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/legal/indias-
startup-laws-an-entrepreneurs-checklist/articleshow/53571792.cms
2. https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/law/institute-for-tax-law-and-
economics/business-studies/center-for-entrepreneurship-and-innovation
3. https://lawinnovationandentrepreneurship.wordpress.com/
4. https://www.ontier.net/news/1978/the-legal-scope-of-entrepreneurship/en/