Put another way, it was doomed (good riddance).

I've mentored aspiring entrepreneurs in the legal tech + services space for a number of years now and go out of my way to provide additional guidance (and some well intentioned ribbing) to those who pitch any sort of legal referral idea.

The concepts are (without fail) derivative and lack novelty, equivalent to pitching "Uber rideshare, but for [INDUSTRY]" without more to sophisticated VCs.

The problem is very real, but the margins are so thin that venture shouldn't be anywhere near it. Solutions should be non-profit and left to those heroes in the A2J space (whose funding should be significantly increased).