Case Studies

Priori has helped the following companies improve how their legal departments find, hire and manage outside counsel for on-demand specialist projects, standardized overflow support and staffing, saving them time and reducing spending.

Interview with Yayoi Shionoiri, General Counsel at Artsy

Q: What was your first introduction to Priori?

I’ve been at Artsy since November 2015, and when I first started I was the sole in-house counsel. In the first 12 months, it was very clear to me that I was going to need additional support, but it can be challenging to get buy-in to spend more on legal when there are pressing business opportunities.

In my second year at Artsy, more resources were allocated to the legal department. I knew I didn’t have enough money for permanent help, so I began to investigate temp solutions.

The first step in my process was to write to the Tech GC Google Group, an organization of General Counsels of leading venture capital firms and venture-backed companies with chapters in New York City, San Francisco, and Boston, to find out what services members were using. Priori Legal clearly rose to the top in terms of the number of recommendations. The buy-in from the tech community was very important in my decision-making process because I wanted to work with a company that understood and worked well with tech companies.

Q: What impressed you the most about Priori?

Like any good due diligencer would do, I talked to Priori and several competitors. I had in mind a very particular type of skill-set, class years of experience and culture fit for an attorney whom I thought would be the ideal second person in a small generalist team. Priori’s rigorous vetting process and data-driven technology platform made me confident that Priori had segmented the market to deliver the right person and right fit from a skills and culture standpoint.

Q: Did you have any initial reservations about trying Priori?

I didn't have any concerns because I had done so much due diligence ahead of time. But that said, until I saw the quality of attorneys, their backgrounds and pricing based on my project request, I didn’t know for sure! Both of the attorneys I interviewed made me feel confident in Priori’s vetting process – not only were they a match on paper, they were lovely in person. I would say the only other concern I had was that your rates may be too reasonable…

Q: Did you have to sell anyone in your company on the idea of using Priori?

Not at all. Artsy was very excited by Priori’s data-driven approach, since it is synergistic with what Artsy is trying to do.

Q: What do you like most about Priori?

Priori has made everything easy – I love the data-driven approach to matchmaking, the seamless billing platform, and Priori’s hands-on approach to partnering with clients. I feel very lucky to have found my attorney through Priori and am honored to work with them.

Q: How will you use Priori going forward?

I hope to turn to Priori if a specialist need comes up. I also try to be the best possible advocate for Priori and recommend it whenever anyone is looking for temporary legal help or specialists.

Q: How much money have you saved using Priori?

We’ve been able to save up to 50% for a similar type of temp attorney.

“Priori's service is extremely impressive—particularly with respect to quality, speed and attention to detail.”

Yassy Okamoto, Director of U.S. Corporate Legal Affairs at Macmillan

Interview with Chris Ghazarian, General Counsel at DreamHost

Q: Why did you decide to try Priori?

I chose Priori because I was looking for cost savings off of traditional outside counsel for legal advice in a number of areas. I have been particularly impressed with Priori because the quality of attorneys is the same or better than our usual attorneys at larger firms, which, given how selective we normally are, says a lot!

Q: Did you have any initial reservations about Priori?

I really didn’t think I needed a third party to help me find a lawyer – I thought I knew enough people to do it myself. But within 30 minutes of contacting Priori, they had scheduled three attorney interviews for me, something I never would have been able to do myself. Booking appointments on the Priori platform was seamless and delightful. They had thought through every detail, including providing a pre-arranged conference number.

There was one lawyer we particularly clicked with, and the next day we were on our way, negotiating the deal.

Q: What do you like most about Priori?

Priori has saved us quite a bit of time and money, and it allows us to easily find, and receive advice from, experts in many different areas. In particular, quick responses from attorneys on Priori’s platform, clear communication from the Priori team, and transparent billing make Priori my default when I’m looking for niche expertise, local counsel or simply cost savings compared to more traditional firm solutions.

“The Priori Team was super helpful in orienting us to the platform and responsive to our business requirements in recommending qualified candidates.”

An Trotter, Senior Director of Operations, Office of the General Counsel at Hearst

Interview with Erin Abrams, General Counsel at Via

Q: How did you first hear about Priori?

We needed extra support on our legal team at Via but couldn’t quite justify the budget to bring another person on full-time yet. A colleague of mine who is also in-house at a technology company in NYC had used Priori previously and found the experience remarkably positive. I had also been aware of Priori from their blog and email newsletter, which I found to be very relevant and interesting.

Q: What did you use Priori for?

As Via has grown, our legal team’s workload expanded, but we didn’t have enough in-house lawyers to do all the work and didn’t want to outsource day-to-day commercial legal matters to outside counsel. As such, we needed to bring someone on who could work in a part-time and flexible manner to handle NDAs, engagement letters, vendor service agreements and commercial contracts.

We also used Priori following the imposition of the federal government’s travel ban early last year. We offered to assist with identifying legal resources for affected members of the Via community. Not only did Priori enable us to identify a roster of reasonably priced immigration practitioners, but Priori also helped us find a great lawyer to come in and provide an informational session for Via drivers on the legal ramifications of the ban.

Q: What do you like most about Priori?

In my experience, Priori’s vetting process is much more thorough than other legal staffing agencies that I have used in the past at my prior jobs. As a result, the caliber of lawyers recommended by Priori is much higher. Another benefit of using Priori was how specific we could make our hiring requirements. For instance, we needed lawyers with particular expertise who had also worked in technology environments. With Priori, you can really tailor your outside counsel and temp attorney hiring in a way that best suits your needs.

Q: How will you use Priori going forward?

We will probably keep using Priori in a similar way to what we have been doing, particularly with overflow commercial contracts work. Additionally, as we keep growing, we’ll use Priori to help us find people who can come on board short-term and fill the gaps that arise as we build out our team. We’ll also use Priori for finding lawyers with specific subject matter expertise, particularly in IP and technology contracts and transactions.

Q: How much money do you think you’ve saved using Priori?

Priori enabled us to get a level of support we would have had a hard time finding otherwise. A comparable attorney at a big law firm would have been approximately five times as much, which obviously would have been cost prohibitive.

Q: What sorts of organizations do you recommend should use Priori?

Any company that needs to find a top attorney but either doesn’t have the time to go through the process of hiring someone full time or the budget to outsource to outside counsel at really high billing rates. Priori’s platform allows legal departments to find top quality lawyers quickly and at discounted rates.

“I have been particularly impressed with Priori because the quality of attorneys is the same or better than our usual attorneys at larger firms.”

Chris Ghazarian, General Counsel at DreamHost

Interview with Susan Alker, Deputy General Counsel at Medley Management, Inc.

Q: What do you like most about Priori?

Priori has top quality attorneys with a variety of expertise. We chose Priori for our projects because their attorneys had the best expertise in corporate/transactional matters. We also love the service that we receive on an ongoing basis. It is timely and efficient, and very cost-effective.

Q: What types of organizations would you recommend Priori’s services to?

Any corporate legal department would benefit from Priori's services. Priori offers an excellent alternative to hiring, especially for temporary, short-term, or individual project needs.