Jake Heller doesn't think it's strange he's an attorney who is just as comfortable litigating as he is software engineering. After all, he was born and raised in the tech capital of the U.S.

“I was one of the few very lucky people to be growing up in Silicon Valley right at the advent of the internet,” he said. “My dad worked for Atari and started his own startup in our garage.” At around 8 years old, Heller was coding on computers and nurturing a burgeoning interest in technology, math and science. But it was another interest that would soon define his future.

Fast-forward several decades, and Heller, a Stanford Law School graduate and former associate at Boston-based Ropes & Gray, is now the founder and CEO of legal research platform Casetext. It is a fitting position for someone who has always been interested in law and technology—and adamant that both are closely related.