Payments giant Stripe has taken a step into the legal tech world with Clerky, a company formed by ex-Orrick lawyers that helps startups with their paperwork. It joins a growing list of major companies moving into this sector, from Anthropic and OpenAI, to Perplexity and Google.
The company stated in a formal announcement that ‘Clerky has agreed to join Stripe’, and that their platform ‘accounts for 23% of all Silicon Valley seed / pre-seed financings and has raised over $140 billion in aggregate venture capital’.
Clerky (see below) offers a range of legal documents needed by startups, and offers to work directly with founders, or with the lawyers serving that market segment. They added that: ‘Hundreds of attorneys and paralegals are working with their clients on Clerky.’
They also did a deal with US law firm, Lowenstein Sandler, in July to help its clients with startup needs.
And it’s worth adding that this area is often one targeted by the NewMod law firms, e.g. Soxton. With the support of Stripe – which had 2025 revenues of $6.8 billion – they will surely be able to expand now.
The company, co-founded by Darby Wong and Chris Field (pictured), stated: ‘As a part of Stripe, Clerky will continue to build on this momentum with the same team and the same focus we’ve always had: helping high-growth startups and their attorneys get routine legal paperwork done safely. And we’ll continue providing the same high level of service to startups and attorneys that we do today.’
Despite its success and launching back in 2011, Clerky appears to have a relatively small staff.
So, is this a big deal?
It’s an interesting move and takes place amid a confluence of changes in the market. As noted, tech giants are moving into legal tech – and this adds to the total of big players. In fact, one could perhaps see this deal as similar to Docusign first moving into legal tech some years ago.
Then there is the NewMod aspect. Many NewMods focus on small companies because of pricing pressures and also a more kindred spirit. Meanwhile, Stripe is massive. But, it is used by many startups for payments, so there is a natural connection there. It will also be interesting to see where this goes. Do they stick to a slice of the startup market or expand into new areas?
Overall, the days of assuming that large companies in other sectors would ‘leave legal tech alone’ are well and truly over. Today, it’s perhaps best to work on the basis that any major digital business with potential synergies with the legal sector might try their hand at it, whether via DIY or acquisition.
More about Clerky here.
—
See you at Legal Innovators New York – Nov 17 and 18 – join us at the intersection of legal AI and the business of law in New York for the most important legal innovation event of the year! Day One: law firms, Day Two: inhouse. Top speakers from across the legal AI world, leading law firms, and major companies. All for one purpose: to describe and explore the frontier of legal technology. See you there!
UK and New York event links are here:
Discover more from Artificial Lawyer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.