Enterprise: Legal Tree

Founder: Jason Rudolf Arteche
Industry: Business Services & Consultancy – Legal Services
Year it was founded: 2020
Location: Quezon City

He who has less in life should have more in law — is this social justice principle true today?

According to the 2019 edition of the World Justice Project’s 'Global Insights on Access to Justice', only 20 percent of Filipinos receive legal help  — leaving 80 percent of Filipinos without legal assistance. Worse, out of the 20 percent, 72 percent of them sought legal help from friends and families while the remaining 15 percent sought help from lawyers and the rest are from various institutions. 

This is why lawyer and entrepreneur Atty. Jason Rudolf Arteche has stepped up to address this underlying issue and founded Legal Tree, a legal tech startup dedicated to making legal services simple and affordable.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Atty. Jason Arteche (JA) shares his business journey on how he aims to do this using his technical expertise and legal knowledge. He also shares how he manages the challenges of running a startup while practicing his legal profession.

GL: Tell us a little bit about your business journey. What motivated and excited you to start it?

JA:  My years of legal practice have exposed me to the high cost of legal services. I’ve seen first-hand how many people don’t have access to legal services because it's too expensive and difficult to use. Legal consultations cost thousands of pesos while personal and business documents (i.e. affidavits and contracts) cost just as much. Looking for an experienced lawyer with the right specialization is also time-consuming and difficult. As a result, most people don’t use legal services and are either abused or taken advantage of.

This is why I founded Legal Tree. Legal Tree is a social enterprise with the goal of empowering Filipinos to protect their rights and making legal services accessible and helpful for them. My vision is a Philippines where anyone who needs legal services can easily get it.

GL: What is the USP of your business?

JA: With Legal Tree, individuals and businesses can create and customize their personal & business documents anytime online within minutes using our innovative Q&A tool. We have a growing library of 80+ essential documents to date.

If they need legal advice, we can connect them with our nearest experienced Partner Lawyers with the right specialization within 1-2 business days for a consultation. We've partnered with 100+ lawyers nationwide to ensure they can talk to the right lawyer anytime and anywhere.  

As a social enterprise, we don’t profit from this endeavor. Our services are affordable because they’re priced just above cost with everything reinvested to our goal. Still, we do not compromise on the quality of our services by ensuring that lawyers review the documents before making them available on the website. Further, we collaborate only with lawyers who are experienced and in good standing with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

GL: What has been the most effective way of raising awareness about your business?

JA: We regularly publish timely and relevant blogs on our website and social media pages that engage our target market. These blogs greatly increase traffic to our website, expand awareness of our brand, and generate leads for us. 
 

GL: What are the challenges for your business to grow bigger, better, and faster from here? What are you doing to tackle them?

JA: As the owner and founder of Legal Tree, it is a challenge to balance my time between my business and my legal practice. I have to constantly work smart, be productive and deeply focus on every task at hand. It’s also a challenge to penetrate the market considering our product is the first of its kind. We have to simultaneously build the market's trust because credibility is a crucial factor in choosing legal services.

To overcome these challenges we aim to expand the team to better serve our clients. We also have a 7-day free trial for clients to create documents and experience the service first-hand.

GL: How does UnionBank GlobalLinker help you so far? And why should other SMEs use it too?

JA: UnionBank GlobalLinker has given me a platform to connect with other business owners and explore business opportunities with them. It has also given me a platform to publish relevant content that can reach my target market. I highly encourage other SMEs to use it to in order to get to know their fellow SMEs and facilitate the sharing of relevant information.

Also read: How to start digitizing your business 

GL: What advice would give to a new entrepreneur setting up their first business? Or what would you tell your younger self?

JA: Stay patient and don’t rush things. As a startup, it’s so easy to feel that your business is not growing as fast as it should despite the amount of time and effort you’ve poured into it. Don’t be discouraged. In due time, you will also realize the fruits of your labour.

It is also important to manage your resources well. You shouldn’t focus on small projects that drain resources but give few returns. Focus on your priorities and identify which initiatives should be pursued and which to let go.

Also read: 7 essential skills for entrepreneurs to learn 

GL: What is the next big thing on your business agenda?

JA: We have many new services in the pipeline but it’s too premature to disclose them now. We’re presently focused on finding ways to make it easier for clients to hire our Partner Lawyers such as pre-negotiated discounts and improved transparency in lawyer’s fees. We want to focus on the task at hand first before looking at future projects.

GL: We would love to know the person behind the entrepreneur.

• Every day I wake up at - 5:00 AM
• The first thing I do when I wake up - Read the news, do my daily devotions and prayer, read my emails then plan my day
• Three things I do to unwind/ relax are – Watch food vlogs and cook. Eat at a nice restaurant. Spend time with my girlfriend.
• When I face a big challenge, I - I analyse the problem, identify my options to overcome it, then act decisively using the best possible option.
• The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is – Seek God’s wisdom and guidance, especially in times of great difficulty and exhaustion. I can honestly say that without God, I would not be where I am with my startup.  This advice has not only helped me in building Legal Tree but in all aspects of my life as well. 

To explore business opportunities, link with Jason Rudolf Arteche by clicking on the 'Connect' button on his profile.

Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the inputs shared by the featured member. GlobalLinker does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions & facts stated by the members