Legal tech startups can succumb to challenges faced by any young company, but when factoring in the legal industry's resistance to change, legal tech companies face additional hurdles that can make success seem unlikely. But Duke Law Tech Lab's pre-accelerator program aims to offer early-stage legal technology companies a stable of industry insights and networking opportunities to assist through the growing pains of a startup.

Earlier this month, Duke launched the third year of the four-month pre-accelerator program. This year, startups Civvis, Courtroom5, DataNovo, DueCourse, Easy Expunctions, FastVisa, FirmVO, LegalMaps, Patent Bots, Princeton Gavel, Suprabook and Text A Lawyer were chosen to participate in the program.

While the 12 startups focus on various matters from access to justice to legal services, all of the participants meet with a network of legal tech professionals for guidance and mentorship. Teams also receive access to additional resources like data and technology access on a case-by-case basis depending on need, Duke said. On “Demo Day,” the final day of the program, a startup is chosen and receives $5,000.