In Julia Klingberg’s Legal Innovation Club, she spoke with Laura Bingenheimer, founder of Magnet Agents, an AI-powered platform designed to help lawyers build and manage client relationships. The discussion explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping legal business development, why relationship-building remains central to the profession, and how lawyers can proactively cultivate their “book of business” in an AI-enabled world.
From Legal Career to Legal Tech Founder
Bingenheimer originally set out to become an international criminal lawyer but quickly became drawn to legal technology. After working within a law firm environment and interviewing more than 30 senior lawyers about their workflows, she identified a consistent problem: business development in law firms was largely unstructured and reactive.
This insight ultimately became the foundation for Magnet Agents. Recognising that the United States represents the world’s largest legal market, Bingenheimer chose to build her venture at Cornell Tech, where the Startup Studio programme allowed her to collaborate with technical co-founders and rapidly prototype ideas.
An important early lesson came from extensive customer interviews. Bingenheimer emphasised that founders must deeply understand the workflows and pain points of their target users. In her case, engaging directly with lawyers revealed that many struggled to systematically manage professional relationships and client outreach.
Building the Right Founding Team
At Cornell Tech, Bingenheimer focused on assembling a team with both technical capability and cultural alignment. For her, four factors were essential in a technical co-founder:
- Ability to build the technology required
- Strong communication and collaboration
- Genuine interest in the problem being solved
- Commitment to building a company beyond the academic programme
Initially, the team pursued a different idea focused on the education sector. However, they quickly realised that the buying persona schools and teachers created long and complex sales cycles. In response, the team pivoted to Bingenheimer’s idea and focused on legal business development. The pivot happened rapidly and gained immediate support from the team.
What Magnet Agents Does
Magnet Agents is designed as an AI-powered client acquisition tool specifically for lawyers. Rather than functioning like a traditional CRM system, the platform aims to help lawyers consistently build and maintain professional relationships over time.
The platform acts as a portable “book of business” that lawyers can carry across their careers and between firms. Its core capabilities include:
- Identifying potential client leads
- Suggesting personalised relationship-building strategies
- Tracking interactions and preferences
- Learning from user behaviour to improve recommendations
The platform is primarily aimed at senior associates and junior partners, though junior associates are increasingly adopting it to begin building networks early in their careers.
Rethinking Business Development in Law
One of the central themes of the discussion was the misconception that networking equals selling. Bingenheimer argued that effective business development is not about immediate sales but about long-term relationship building.
Her advice to lawyers was straightforward:
- Be proactive rather than reactive
- Maintain consistent touchpoints with contacts
- Provide value through insights, articles, or introductions
- Focus on trust before commercial outcomes
AI can support this process by identifying the right moment to reach out, suggesting contacts, and generating personalised communication strategies. However, Bingenheimer emphasised that the goal is not to automate relationships but to make relationship-building easier and more structured.
The Challenge of Time and Consistency
One of the biggest barriers to business development is time. Lawyers are typically busy with client work and often treat networking as a secondary priority.
To address this, Magnet Agents is designed for short, structured engagement. Bingenheimer explained that the tool encourages users to spend as little as 15 minutes periodically managing their network. This lightweight approach aims to build consistent habits rather than overwhelming lawyers with another complex platform.
AI, Trust, and the Human Element
The session also explored broader questions about AI’s role in legal practice. While AI can automate research, drafting, and data analysis, both speakers agreed that trust and relationships remain fundamentally human.
Bingenheimer believes AI agents will increasingly assist lawyers by identifying opportunities, analysing networks, and suggesting actions. In the longer term, she even envisions a future where digital agents may communicate with each other to facilitate professional connections.
However, she also emphasised that the human element of trust-building will remain indispensable. Lawyers must still guide the strategy, maintain authenticity in relationships, and ensure professional judgment remains central.
Key Takeaways
- Legal business development remains one of the least structured aspects of legal practice.
- AI can help lawyers identify opportunities and maintain consistent outreach.
- Relationship building, not selling, is the core of effective client development.
- Short, consistent engagement can produce long-term professional value.
- Even as AI becomes more powerful, trust and human connection will remain central to legal work.
