Support Legal appoints Chief Technology Officer in bid to become region’s first digital law firm
Pleased to hear that Support Legal, our legal counsel, have recently appointed a new Chief Technology Officer as they look to transform the way advisory services are delivered across the Middle East and North Africa.
Founded in 2016, Support Legal is already quickly becoming the main reference point as a legal services provider for MENA startups. Their aim is to digitalise this assistance to support the ecosystem. They have a unique perspective by supporting not only Entrepreneurs but helping standardise processes for investors and clients.
MAGNiTT took this opportunity to speak to their founders, Patrick Rogers & Lee McMahon to learn more about their services and what the new CTO’s role will be:
Q: What have you noticed are the major pain points that you look to solve for through an online platform?
A: “Start-ups are spending too much time, money, and energy focusing on understanding and solving their legal challenges instead of focusing on building their ideas and teams. It’s more than just not having affordable access to the correct legal contracts; it’s not knowing what the best practices are for how they should approach their legal challenges. We’ll provide a solution that solves the problem from all angles.”
Q: Are you focused on UAE Entrepreneurs or providing a service for across the region?
A: “We are focused on building a service that will provide support for start-ups across all of MEA. We will foster entrepreneurship throughout the region by making it cheaper and more efficient for founders to be able to launch, operate and propel their businesses.”
The Support Legal Team
Q: Is your focus with an online platform catered to support Entrepreneurs or all stakeholders across the ecosystem?
A: “We believe that to truly support start-ups and emerging companies, we must focus on providing value to the parties on both sides of the table: founders and investors. By creating a platform that simplifies the legal process from the investors’ perspective, we aim to make fundraising easier for start-ups and portfolio management easier for investors.”
Full press release below:
Dubai, UAE. 28 June 2018 – New Law provider Support Legal has strengthened its in-house technology capabilities with the appointment of Arthur Guest as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Bringing a breadth of expertise across technology, product innovation, and operations, Guest will play a key role in shaping the technology agenda across the Support Legal Group as it continues to transform the way advisory services are delivered across the Middle East and Africa.
Relocating from San Francisco, Guest will oversee Support Legal’s digitalisation strategy and implementation, including the development of a first-of-its-kind digital platform to meet the advisory needs of start-ups.
Commenting on Guest’s appointment, Lee McMahon, Co-Founder and Principal at Support Legal said: “We are excited and fortunate to welcome Arthur to our team as we continue to digitalise top-tier legal services. Arthur is an exceptional technologist, with a 12-year track record of developing some cutting-edge solutions. Having someone of his calibre help us in pioneering the digital transformation of legal services will prove paramount in steering Support Legal in the direction we want to go.”
Guest will play a key role in shaping the technology agenda across the Support Legal Group
Guest holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of British Columbia, a Master’s Degree in Space Studies from the International Space University, and a further Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In addition to his impressive educational credentials, Arthur co-founded San Francisco-based start-up, Beauty Army, a subscription based e-commerce platform. He also worked as a systems architect for NASA while at MIT and taught at the International Space University's Space Studies Program where he chaired its Systems Engineering Department.
Attracted by Support Legal’s innovative and disruptive business model and plans to build software to scale its solutions to help entrepreneurs and emerging companies across the Middle East and Africa navigate complex legal landscapes, Guest’s appointment reaffirms the growing interest from experienced technologists to work alongside professional service providers to create digital solutions for the friction points faced by start-up communities.
“I look forward to assuming the role of CTO at Support Legal, a business that is as disruptive as it is forward-thinking. I am honoured to be working alongside such a dynamic and experienced team as the business enters its next phase of technology leadership, and I look forward to developing critical legal infrastructure to benefit the wider start-up and SME ecosystem,” said Guest.
The first legal services provider in the region to do away with the billable hour, Support Legal is implementing fixed fees and innovative tech solutions to deliver world-class legal services in a manner that aligns with the wants and needs of its clients. In little over 12 months of operation, the New Law providers have amassed a client base of more than 300 companies across 15 Middle East and African countries.