Legal tech startups can succumb to challenges faced by any young company, but when factoring in the legal industry's resistance to change, legal tech companies face additional hurdles that can make success seem unlikely. But Duke Law Tech Lab's pre-accelerator program aims to offer early-stage legal technology companies a stable of industry insights and networking opportunities to assist through the growing pains of a startup.

Earlier this month, Duke launched the third year of the four-month pre-accelerator program. This year, startups Civvis, Courtroom5, DataNovo, DueCourse, Easy Expunctions, FastVisa, FirmVO, LegalMaps, Patent Bots, Princeton Gavel, Suprabook and Text A Lawyer were chosen to participate in the program.

While the 12 startups focus on various matters from access to justice to legal services, all of the participants meet with a network of legal tech professionals for guidance and mentorship. Teams also receive access to additional resources like data and technology access on a case-by-case basis depending on need, Duke said. On “Demo Day,” the final day of the program, a startup is chosen and receives $5,000.

“We tend to look for rather early-stage teams because there are often few resources for such teams,” wrote Duke Center on Law & Technology director Jeff Ward in an email. ”And we tend to give priority to teams that may—in some way—enhance access to legal services for those who have been traditionally underserved”

The idea for the program was born from witnessing technology's innovation in legal practices, said Ward. Similarly, other law schools have launched tech accelerator programs to encourage innovation. From Suffolk Law's Institute on Law Practice Technology and Innovation hosting the school's legal tech software, to U.K. law schools placing more emphasis on students understanding legal tech, Duke joins other law schools in acknowledge technology is impacting the profession.

For Duke, it wanted to bring that innovation to its campus in its earliest stage, Ward said. He noted it's important to provide early-stage companies with support as they weather general business and legal tech-specific challenges.

“Legal tech startups face additional challenges,” Ward wrote. “Conventional legal service models are well-established and resistant to change. Firms don't necessarily have central decision-makers or funds dedicated to implementing new tech. And concerns about the integrity of legal practice often disallow startups to launch with only a minimum viable product. As such, legal tech companies are often required to do more to prove themselves before they get a foot in the door.”

In general, businesses are comfortable with a “minimum viable product” that's developed just enough to gain some early customer feedback. However with legal tech, buyers demand a more substantial product under first review, Ward explained.

“In other words, they demand that the kinks be worked out already before they allow the product to be used. This puts enormous demands on legal tech startups,” he said.

Kevin Gillespie, a participant and co-founder of Text A Lawyer, a flat-fee service to text a lawyer a legal question, said the program provides a support system of business advisers. “They are an incubator of people you can trust,” he said. ”A good trustable resource for an early startup.”

To help build that network, Duke enlisted a team of legal tech professionals from LexisNexis and Latham & Watkins to offer their guidance to participants and financial support for prize money.

For Jeff Pfeifer of LexisNexis, the program offers not only an ecosystem to encourage innovation, but it's also a way to scout possible candidates for LexisNexis' own accelerator program. While LexisNexis' accelerator program targets startups that are more market ready, Pfeifer highlighted the importance of programs targeting early-stage companies.

“The amount of legal tech innovation and the sheer number of startups is at a level we haven't seen before,” he said. “These programs are quite important because it helps these early-stage companies gain traction and grow over time.”