{"id":15332,"date":"2015-07-20T16:51:08","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T20:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=15332"},"modified":"2020-04-03T18:00:38","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T22:00:38","slug":"lawgo-college-friends-team-up-to-challenge-the-legal-status-quo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/lawgo-college-friends-team-up-to-challenge-the-legal-status-quo","title":{"rendered":"LawGo: college friends team up to challenge the legal status quo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever dream of building a lucrative startup with your best friend from college? For Heather John and Jessica Chen, the transition from freshman year confidants to C-suite executives was a natural one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just like marriage\u2014not that either of us have any experience with that,\u201d says John. \u201cBut we hear it\u2019s a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As co-founders of LawGo<\/a>, the WeWork Park South<\/a> members\u00a0are committed to providing fixed-price law services for growing startups, circumventing the hefty hourly price tags that often prevent smaller businesses from having access to a personal lawyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like TurboTax for lawyers,\u201d says John.<\/p>\n

John and Chen attended University of Toronto together, where they met as first-year students and shared a backpacking trip to China. They went their separate ways for a while after college, with Chen beginning a career in corporate consulting in New York and John pursuing a law degree in Toronto. However, when the legal market began its collapse in 2010, John knew it was time for a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized the legal economy was completely changing, and firms were going bankrupt, but I saw an opportunity in that,\u201d John explains. \u201cI wanted to be in New York. I wanted to be in the startup law practice. Toronto is not really an entrepreneurial place.\u201d<\/p>\n

John started her own independent practice in New York, but soon felt the need to innovate. After testing some startup ideas, she finally settled on the idea for LawGo and went with it. Taking advantage of the contacts she\u2019d made with small independent firms in New York, John compiled a list of personally vetted lawyers and began matching them with clients through LawGo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started the company in August, and Jess was still working a consultant,\u201d says John. \u201cShe was my best friend in New York, and she started helping me on nights and weekends, without asking for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen says she knew immediately that they were a perfect fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really loved helping Heather,\u201d says Chen. \u201cThis idea that we built, the idea of transparent fixed pricing and having legal services on demand, really spoke to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the idea grew too big for late nights in John\u2019s living room. Chen realized it was time to cash in on all her hours of sweat equity and trade her consulting job for a spot as COO of LawGo. Ever since, the pair has capitalized on their strong bond and unique strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very different,\u201d says Chen. \u201cHeather\u2019s very creative and charismatic. She\u2019s our CEO, and she\u2019s really good at inspiring people. I\u2019m more of the person who executes and gets things going\u2014I\u2019m really organized, so it works. I wouldn\u2019t have just started this with any best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pair of female entrepreneurs is still an anomaly in the legal profession, but John and Chen feel right at home among their competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in law practice in New York for a long time, so I\u2019ve gotten pretty thick-skinned,\u201d says John. \u201cProbably the only time I think about being a woman is figuring out what bathroom to go into. I don\u2019t think about it much, but it does matter how you dress and how you present yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Chen, building a network is the key to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different being a young woman in the space\u2014it\u2019s about building networks and having help from mentors, as well as peers who can help me get to the next step,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is so modern. We\u2019re bringing people together, and I\u2019m suited for that kind of relationship building, so it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo credit: Lauren Kallen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever dream of building a lucrative startup with your best friend from college? For Heather John and Jessica Chen, the transition from freshman year confidants to C-suite executives was a natural one. \u201cIt\u2019s just like marriage\u2014not that either of us have any experience with that,\u201d says John. \u201cBut we hear it\u2019s a lot of work.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1519,"featured_media":15336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-member-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLawGo: college friends team up to challenge the legal status quo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As co-founders of LawGo, the two are committed to providing fixed-price law services for growing startups, 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