photo courtesy of Chris Bauer
Last month, Chris Daming celebrated the launch of Legal GPS, a proactive legal solution he created for use by entrepreneurs. The event took place at TechArtista Co-working Environment. Daming, a former litigator, and his wife Lauren, a lawyer with Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, are shown above with their son Jude. Daming grew up in St. Charles, spent 4 years in the military and then attended DePaul University in Chicago where he met Lauren. Following graduation, they moved to St. Louis where they both earned law degrees from Washington University.
Three years ago, Daming left his work as a litigator with a local law firm to go into private practice as an entrepreneurs’ attorney. “I was excited about the entrepreneur scene developing in St. Louis, and wanted to be part of it. But I could never have taken this leap without Lauren’s incredible support.”
photo courtesy of Chris Bauer
“Make something people want,” a popular theme in the startup community, is straight out of Daming’s playbook. When Daming opened his new office at TechArtista he discovered that entrepreneurs, “do it yourself-ers” by nature, relied on Google searches to get answers to their legal questions. They didn’t want to hire an attorney because they thought it would cost too much, or were intimidated to make the initial call. When TechArtista members would stop by his desk to ask a legal question, he would answer, but he realized they were overlooking a lot of other problems they hadn’t thought about. “They didn’t know what they didn’t know, and this could lead to costly legal mistakes,” Daming said. He interviewed 100s of entrepreneurs in several co-working spaces to find what type of legal product they needed.
“It’s taken 2 1/2 years to build Legal GPS and there have been incredible highs and lows, but I can’t describe the relief to see it skyrocket so fast,” Daming said. A team of 9 has been working with Daming on the app, including 3 members of TechArtista (Jorik Ittman, Brandon Jones and Jeff Pusczek), and a professor of marketing at W. U. “We are not trying to replace attorneys with Legal GPS, as there are definitely times when it is absolutely necessary to hire one,” Daming said. In fact, the app is designed to notify users when an issue requires a specialized attorney.
Legal GPS costs subscribers $35 a month, with a money back guarantee and no long-term contracts. The app uses a unique Legal Checkup to determine users’ needs and anticipate problems ahead. Users can look for a specific topic, such as how to start a company and hire a staff. Users can find contract documents and search the legal library on their own.
Daming hopes that before long every entrepreneur in St. Louis, and 50% of those across the country, will have access to Legal GPS. He is currently partnering with several local co-working spaces (TechArtista, Nexcore, Exit 11, and Multi-Pass at the OC) that are offering the app as a benefit to members.
photo courtesy of Chris Bauer
Finally, meet Templeton, the Damings pot-bellied pig, who’s sporting a Legal GPS tee at the launch party April 1. The family lives downtown and have gotten to know many of their neighbors when they take their unusual pet our for walks. Pigs are hypoallergenic and, according to Chris, make wonderful pets. “Templeton has a complex personality. He’s quite a manipulator,” Daming said, “though I know exactly what he’s thinking.” I bet he’s thinking, like many people who’ve tried it, that Legal GPS is a really great idea. Build something people need, indeed.
For more information visit the website, or contact Chris Daming: chris@legalgps.com.
From left: All-natural Terrier Truffles, 4 for $9.99, and personalized heart-shaped cookies, $5.99. 10% of sales donated to Rescue.
