Lawyer sells practice to focus on digital startup
It will be a bitter-sweet moment for Claudia King when she sells the law firm her father developed to focus on the legal startup he dreamed of.
It was August 1, 2006 when Dennis King Law (DKL) first opened, and it will be July 21, 2017 when the paperwork to sell it is finalised. The 34-year-old said the sale meant she could now fully focus on one of her father’s big dreams: automated online legal documents.
Earlier this month Claudia launched Automio, an online software that lawyers can use to create automated legal documents.
While the team would still be based out of their New Plymouth building, the atmosphere in the office would be more like a digital start-up than a law firm, King said.
Instead of suits and jackets, the staff were more likely to turn up in t-shirts and jeans. ‘‘This was a concept of Dad’s many years ago. He came up with the idea in the 80s,’’ she said. ‘‘Dennis was before his time really, he had a great vision for Automio.’’
However, he had put so much time into his work as a lawyer he hadn’t been able to put in the hours to launch the online software.
Claudia, who began working as a director with her father just after DKL launched, said she put a lot of effort into developing his idea.
‘‘I guess one of the good things of working with him and being in a leadership role at such a young age was that I was able to make the time to do these things,’’ she said.
‘‘And Dad was happy for me to spend the time on these kind of things because he was passionate about them as well.’’
Dennis passed away in March 2016, just before the firm’s online arm LegalBeagle began selling legal documents online.
Claudia said DKL was being sold to Quin Law, a similar sized New Plymouth-based firm, and the sale was a way of simplifying her life and helping her focus on her two children, aged one and three.
‘‘When I’m at work I can just focus on Automio and when I’m at home I can just focus on the kids and not worry about clients and the Law Society and staff and all the other bits and pieces that go along with running a law firm,’’ she said.