Dragon Law wants to take a bite out of startups’ legal hassles

In Southeast Asia’s startup world, the unspoken rule is to start executing your idea before worrying about legal issues. In emerging markets like Indonesia and Vietnam, this is something that’s very easy to get away with, even if you’re already bigger than just a bootstrapping startup. However, in places like Singapore or Hong Kong – where regulation is tighter – you’re more likely to get slapped on the wrist by authorities if you’re operating without appropriate contracts or paperwork.

This is a problem Hong Kong-based startup Dragon Law aims to solve. The firm, which launched in January, helps businesses of all sizes draft legal documents, access legal advice, get incorporated, register trademarks, obtain visas, and more. However, instead of doing in-person consultations, Dragon Law provides software to help you make sense of it all.

“I have worked as a lawyer in a global law firm. I have seen how legal services can be inefficient and overpriced,” says Ryanne Lai, Dragon Law’s business and product director.

Lai says her startup offers do-it-yourself templates that let users answer questions related to the legal issue at hand. Once the questionnaire is complete, users are supplied with legally binding documents with the right information and clauses for their particular case. Currently, Dragon Law’s service is limited to Hong Kong and Singapore jurisdictions, but Lai says the startup is looking to roll out in other markets soon.

See: LawCanvas wants to be the legal eagle for Singaporean startups

Old school value

The cool thing about Dragon Law is that it’s solving an old-school problem in a new-school way. In the past, getting incorporated or getting a lawyer to give you legal advice took multiple trips to a law office, and service fees were sure to come into play. Lai says Dragon Law’s app saves time and money, while also reducing risks associated with downloading legal documents from the internet.

She also claims Dragon Law can find a solution for a customer’s legal needs 10 times faster than the traditional way, and comes in at an average price that’s five to 10 times cheaper; which is a bold statement to say the least.

Since January, Dragon Law has garnered around 1,000 active users. According to Lai, active users are people who come back to use the app more than once. She measures user engagement by looking at stats on how many documents a user has made, how often they use the service desk and live chat feature, how often they request add-on services such as company incorporation or visas, and whether they use one of Dragon Law’s partnering legal firms to seek advice.

See: Singapore startups, use these open-source investment templates, save yourselves from grief

Law is lucrative

Dragon Law monetizes via subscriptions. It has a free option for users to explore, in which they can make documents for things like non-disclosure agreements, shareholder agreements for multiple stakeholders, as well as various term sheets for things like venture capital investments. Lai says Dragon Law’s starter package, however, begins at around US$1,000 per year. As packages become more customizable and inclusive, Dragon Law’s rates naturally go up. The priciest package clocks in at around US$2,526 per year.