Legora hires – Legora, a Swedish legal software startup, named Zeynep Inanoglu Ozdemir as its first chief marketing officer, pulling her from a 450-person marketing team at Atlassian. The move comes as Legora leans into an AI-driven race for trust in legal work—and tries to
For lawyers, “pitch” isn’t a spark. It’s a risk assessment.
So Legora’s decision to hire its first chief marketing officer—Zeynep Inanoglu Ozdemir—lands with a specific kind of pressure. The Swedish legal software startup wants to win over a cautious audience and turn its name into something law firms can’t ignore as it competes with larger Silicon Valley rival Harvey.
On her second day at Legora’s Stockholm office, Inanoglu Ozdemir described the conversations that shaped her approach. “I talked to all the lawyers that I had worked with in the past,” she said on a call. “They told me: Law is changing, and Legora has a chance to shape its future.”
She also pointed to the pace Legora is building toward. During her orientation, dozens of new recruits joined her, reflecting the company’s scale-up. Last year, Legora grew from 40 employees to 400.
Inanoglu Ozdemir’s background is rooted in building demand at a much bigger machine. Until recently, she oversaw a 450-person marketing team at Atlassian, the publicly traded software company behind Jira and Trello. Her move arrives as Atlassian reshapes around artificial intelligence, including layoffs and a “string of executive departures.”.
Legora’s challenge—and its opportunity—is smaller than Atlassian’s. but it’s pointed at a market with a higher tolerance for skepticism. The company is chasing a multibillion-dollar opportunity selling software lawyers use to get work done. including contract drafting and legal research. Legora has added elite law firms like Cleary Gottlieb and HSF Kramer as customers.
Investors have backed the bet. Accel and General Catalyst have rallied around Legora’s founder, Max Junestrand. The startup says it has raised more than $850 million in capital, pushing its valuation to $5.6 billion. Harvey, by contrast, was last valued at $11 billion.
The job Inanoglu Ozdemir is stepping into is not only about selling features—it’s about staking credibility in a field where the stakes of adoption are sensitive. She framed her own decision as a choice between repeating known strategies inside large organizations or joining a disruption early. “You can either take your experiences and go from one big company to another — you take the blue pill. right?” she said. “Or you take the red pill and you go. ‘Something’s going to get disrupted here. and I want to be on the frontline of that story.’”.
Legora and Harvey compete on product and features. They’re also fighting on another front: brand. In a market where law firms are being asked to trust artificial intelligence with sensitive client work. Legora’s marketing chief is betting that awareness and credibility can become a competitive wedge. “Brand is becoming almost a moat,” Inanoglu Ozdemir said.
That helps explain how hard Legora has been trying to make itself memorable. Earlier this year, it booked actor Jude Law for a glossy ad campaign. It has also moved into sports sponsorships. signing a Swedish professional golfer. to position Legora less like a niche software vendor and more like a category leader.
In the pitch Legora is now building, conversion happens quickly—at least in pilots. Inanoglu Ozdemir said Legora told her during the interview process that when customers pilot its software against competitors. pilots convert into long-term contracts 78% of the time. She believes that once Legora earns a place at the table, the product can win.
Her task is to make sure more law firms are willing to invite Legora in—before the decision is made elsewhere.
Legora Zeynep Inanoglu Ozdemir chief marketing officer Atlassian Jira Trello Harvey legal software artificial intelligence contract drafting legal research Cleary Gottlieb HSF Kramer Accel General Catalyst Max Junestrand Jude Law sports sponsorship
So basically they hired a marketing person to scam lawyers faster? Great.
Atlassian layoffs + now this?? Sounds like people just jump from one ship to another and call it “strategy.” I don’t get how marketing helps legal software build trust though.
Wait I thought “Legora” was some AI robot lawyer 😂 But hiring some CMO doesn’t make it more trustworthy. Also doesn’t “Harvey” mean the whole company is named after like a dude? Feels weird to me.
“Pitch isn’t a spark, it’s a risk assessment” ok but marketing is still marketing. If they’re adding AI to legal work, the whole thing feels like it’ll get people in trouble faster. Also why is a Swedish startup hiring someone from a 450-person marketing team—shouldn’t it be about the product not the hype?