[Exclusive] Ro&Good Acquires CaseMaster, the 'No.1 Court Date Management App' by Legally

Legal Platform Startup Law&Good Completes Legally Sales Contract
Law&Good Achieved 10 Billion KRW Cumulative Transactions by April Last Year, Over 900 Registered Lawyers
Law&Good Faces Challenges in Raising Large-Scale 30 Billion KRW Investment Target
Expanding Business from Existing 'Legal Quotation Service' to 'Court Date Management Service'
Plans to Enhance Online Legal Service Quality Through Synergy from Acquisition

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] Law & Good, a legal service platform that sought to raise 30 billion KRW in investment, is acquiring Legal.ly, a startup famous for its court date management app ‘CaseMaster.’ This move is interpreted as a strategic play to overcome the recent crisis of a large-scale investment deal falling through through a merger and acquisition (M&A).

According to industry sources on the 7th, Law & Good completed the payment for the acquisition of Legal.ly about one to two weeks ago. It is reported that both parties finalized the sales contract after a long negotiation process.

Law & Good is a legal platform startup founded by CEO Min Myung-gi, a lawyer formerly from a major law firm’s M&A and corporate advisory team. It gained attention by raising 1.5 billion KRW in investment within just six months in the traditionally conservative legal sector. As of April last year, its cumulative transaction volume surpassed 10 billion KRW, and it is known to have about 900 registered lawyer members. Law & Good provides a quotation service that allows users in need of legal assistance to easily and reasonably find lawyers by comparing lawyers’ legal consultation fees and solutions. It was selected as a TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup) company by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in November 2020 and won the grand prize in the legal platform category at the 8th Future Creative Management Excellence Awards in January last year.

There is an analysis that Law & Good’s acquisition of Legal.ly is due to the recent failure to secure large-scale investment. Earlier this year, Law & Good aimed to raise 30 billion KRW in a large-scale investment round for the first time in two years. However, a major institutional investor who had previously led the investment decided not to proceed, causing other venture capitalists to also withhold their investments. Additionally, ongoing concerns about the legality of legal service platforms have made it difficult to attract investment.

However, the industry views that by acquiring Legal.ly, a startup in the same field, Law & Good, which has been providing legal quotation services, can increase synergy and improve the likelihood of securing follow-up investments. If Legal.ly’s court date management service is integrated into Law & Good’s existing legal quotation service, the quality of online legal services could be enhanced. Through the CaseMaster app, legal professionals can easily manage court hearing schedules, enabling lawyers handling many cases simultaneously to manage their clients’ cases more meticulously. A Law & Good representative said, "In addition to services that propose cases to lawyers, by providing additional services after case acceptance, we expect to strengthen the benefits for lawyers using Law & Good and increase client satisfaction."

Meanwhile, Legal.ly was founded by lawyer Hong Seung-jin, co-founder of the startup stock trading platform Angel League. Having studied engineering at Seoul National University and Stanford Graduate School, he developed the CaseMaster app to improve inconveniences he experienced during his legal career. He currently serves as the lead lawyer at Dosun Law Office and works as an adjunct professor at KAIST K-School, supporting student startups.