Apply - The Referent Founding Firms Program

Q: Is there a deadline?

Cohort 1 is full. New applications join the waitlist for Cohort 2, opening in September - waitlisted firms get first access.

Q: How selective is it?

Cohorts are small and reviewed by hand. We optimize for fit, not volume. A strong operational profile and a real willingness to onboard matter more than firm size.

Q: I already use Clio / MyCase / Smokeball.

Keep your system of record - you have two paths. Referent can connect directly to it over API and work on top of your existing records, so there's nothing to move. Or, if Referent becomes your home base, we run a private, fast migration of your data into Referent for you. Your call.

Q: What if we already use Harvey or Legora?

Those are AI for legal work - research, drafting, document review. You ask, they produce. They're sharp tools you open when you need them, and they're worth keeping. Referent is a different layer. It doesn't wait to be asked - it runs the operation: intake becomes matters, client emails become tasks, deadlines surface before they slip, follow-ups get drafted and queued for your approval. Every agent works from your firm's live matter context, and nothing client-facing leaves without a lawyer's sign-off. That's the line between AI-assisted and AI-native - one helps you do the work, the other runs the firm around it. Keep Harvey or Legora for the deep drafting. Referent is the operating layer the rest of your firm runs on.

Q: Do I need an invite code?

No. A code moves you up the queue, but strong operational fit gets you in on its own.

Q: Which firms fit best?

Firms in high-repetition practice areas - immigration, family, estate planning, personal injury, employment, small business, civil litigation, landlord/tenant, consumer, real estate.

Apply - The Referent Founding Firms Program

The Referent Founding Firms Program

Every law firm will become AI-native. Some will get there first.

Cohort 1 is full - 20 firms are building that model first. Over 450 firms applied in under 4 weeks; the Cohort 2 waitlist is open.

Team backed by: Google for Startups Nvidia Inception Program

The Referent Founding Firms Program

Every law firm will become AI-native. Some will get there first.

Cohort 1 is full - 20 firms are building that model first. Over 450 firms applied in under 4 weeks; the Cohort 2 waitlist is open.

Team backed by: Google for Startups Nvidia Inception Program

Every few decades, the way law firms operate quietly resets.

Paper became digital. On-prem became cloud. Each time, a handful of firms moved early - and spent the next ten years a step ahead of everyone still catching up.

The next shift is already underway. Not AI that drafts a paragraph when you ask. AI that runs the operation: intake that organizes itself, client emails that become tasks, matters that stay current, deadlines that surface before they're a problem, follow-ups that don't slip.

Most firms will use AI the way they used the fax machine - occasionally, reluctantly, late.

A few will rebuild how the firm actually runs. They'll handle more matters with the same people. They'll stop being their own operations team. They'll keep their judgment exactly where it belongs and hand the routine to agents that wait for approval.

We're looking for those firms.

This isn't early access to software. It's the first cohort of an operating model. The firms we accept will shape the product, set the standard, and carry a head start the market can't easily close.

If that's the firm you're trying to build - apply.

From the founder

I spent fifteen years building technology, time inside a law office, and four years in legal tech. The pattern never changed: capable lawyers buried in operational work that software should have handled. Referent is the system I wished existed - it runs the routine and hands every critical decision back to the lawyer.

George Zaletski

Founder & CEO, Referent

Three ways to run a firm

Docs, sheets, inbox

No system

Work scattered across docs, spreadsheets, and your inbox
You do all the data entry
AI does nothing - every step is manual

A system of record

Traditional legal CRM

Work lives in the CRM once someone types it in
Still you - fields, records, tasks by hand
AI records what you type. Acting is your job

A system of action

Referent

Every email, file, and deadline lands in the right matter
AI agents do the data entry - you approve
AI prepares the work end to end. You approve every critical step

Referent MCP server

Work with your firm's workspace from the AI apps you already use. Referent speaks MCP - the open standard connecting AI assistants to your tools - so Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and any MCP-compatible app can read and act on your clients, matters, and documents. Same approvals, same audit trail.

What a Founding Firm gets

White-glove onboarding

A dedicated setup of your first AI-native workflows, run with you, not handed to you. We don't leave until your firm is actually using it - and the routine is off your desk.
A permanent line to the team

Founding Firms keep a standing, direct line to the people building Referent - for good. You're the inner circle: the first to see what's coming, and the first to shape it. Your feedback doesn't go into a queue - it goes into the roadmap.
Invite codes that mean something

Once your firm is up and running, you unlock invites to bring lawyers you respect into the program. Codes unlock after value, not on signup.
The Founding Firms Council

The first firms in get a standing seat: roadmap previews, private workshops, anonymized benchmarks, and a room of peers building the same thing.
A standard you can trust

AI prepares. The lawyer approves. Matter context, audit trail, and review before anything client-facing - by design, not as an afterthought.

Who this is for

This is built for

Solo attorneys and law firm owners
Owner-operators and managing partners who can decide and move
Firms with real, repeatable operational load - intake, matters, email, deadlines, follow-ups, billing
Lawyers already curious about AI, or convinced it's where the firm is headed
People willing to sit a short onboarding call and tell us the truth about what works

This probably isn't the moment if

You're looking for a legal-research chatbot
You want AI to replace your team (it won't, and we won't sell that)
You expect to flip a switch with no setup and no feedback

How it works

Apply

A focused application, about 3 minutes. Enough for us to understand your firm and your operational reality.
We review

Personally. We're reading for fit, not collecting emails.
Onboarding call

Selected firms get a working session, not a sales pitch. We map your workflows and set up the first ones live.
You go AI-native

We get the routine work running on its own, so you can focus on clients and judgment.
You unlock invites

Once you're up and running, you can bring in lawyers you trust - and take your seat among the Founding Firms.

Questions

Is there a deadline?

Cohort 1 is full. New applications join the waitlist for Cohort 2, opening in September - waitlisted firms get first access.

How selective is it?

Cohorts are small and reviewed by hand. We optimize for fit, not volume. A strong operational profile and a real willingness to onboard matter more than firm size.

Will this replace my staff?

No. We don't believe AI replaces lawyers, and we won't sell that. We believe AI multiplies every person on your team - so one person can handle 3-5x the matters they could before. It's leverage, not replacement.

I already use Clio / MyCase / Smokeball.

Keep your system of record - you have two paths. Referent can connect directly to it over API and work on top of your existing records, so there's nothing to move. Or, if Referent becomes your home base, we run a private, fast migration of your data into Referent for you. Your call.

What if we already use Harvey or Legora?

Those are AI for legal work - research, drafting, document review. You ask, they produce. They're sharp tools you open when you need them, and they're worth keeping. Referent is a different layer. It doesn't wait to be asked - it runs the operation: intake becomes matters, client emails become tasks, deadlines surface before they slip, follow-ups get drafted and queued for your approval. Every agent works from your firm's live matter context, and nothing client-facing leaves without a lawyer's sign-off. That's the line between AI-assisted and AI-native - one helps you do the work, the other runs the firm around it. Keep Harvey or Legora for the deep drafting. Referent is the operating layer the rest of your firm runs on.

Do I need an invite code?

No. A code moves you up the queue, but strong operational fit gets you in on its own.

Which firms fit best?

Firms in high-repetition practice areas - immigration, family, estate planning, personal injury, employment, small business, civil litigation, landlord/tenant, consumer, real estate.

Cohort 1 · full — applications join the Cohort 2 waitlist

Read by hand. We accept a small number of firms per cohort.

Tell us about yourself.

Name

Phone number

Used only to reach you about your application.

Firm size

I have an invite code

Strong fits hear from us within 2 business days.

Apply - The Referent Founding Firms Program

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