Hey there Legal Rebels! 👋 I’m excited to share with you the 42nd episode of the 2025 season of the LawDroid Manifesto podcast, where I will be continuing to interview key legal innovators to learn how they do what they do. I think you’re going to enjoy this one!
I first met Laura Bingenheimer at the Legal Hackers Summit at Brooklyn Law School. She is an intelligent force to be reckoned with. So, when I learned about her new venture deploying agents with Avinash Nair, I knew I had to get the scoop about MagNet Agents for you. Enjoy!
If you want to understand how AI agents can transform client acquisition for law firms of all sizes and learn how two founders are building practical solutions that lawyers are actually adopting, you need to listen to this episode. Laura and Avinash are at the forefront of legal business development technology and bring complementary expertise that makes Magnet Agents a powerful tool for modern law practices.
Building AI-Powered Business Development for Modern Law Firms
Join me as I interview Laura Bingenheimer and Avinash Nair, co-founders of Magnet Agents, an AI-powered client acquisition platform designed specifically for lawyers.
In this insightful podcast episode, Laura and Avinash share their unique journeys: Laura from journalism through law school to legal tech sales, and Avinash from engineering and philosophy to AI development. Together, they’ve created a tool that helps lawyers systematize their business development efforts across all firm sizes and practice areas. They dive deep into how Magnet Agents works, allowing lawyers to input their practice area, preferred client type, and outreach method to generate personalized client acquisition strategies. The platform is already being used by partners, business development professionals, and senior associates from firms of all sizes, primarily in corporate practice areas.
Their stories underscore the importance of finding product-market fit through genuine customer feedback and building technology that solves real problems lawyers face daily. This episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about the intersection of legal practice and AI-powered business development, offering valuable perspectives on practical implementation approaches that are working today.
The Skinny
Laura Bingenheimer and Avinash Nair, co-founders of Magnet Agents, share their complementary journeys into legal innovation. Laura brings seven years of legal tech sales experience, having worked across various legal tech companies and law firms of different sizes, while Avinash combines his engineering background with a passion for building solutions to real-world problems. Together, they launched Magnet Agents in July 2025, creating an AI-powered web application that helps lawyers systematically approach client acquisition. The platform allows lawyers to input information about their practice area, preferred client type, and outreach method, then provides personalized business development strategies. Already serving partners, BD professionals, and senior associates across all firm sizes, primarily in corporate practice areas, the platform demonstrates the growing appetite among lawyers for practical AI implementation. Their success stems from maintaining close customer relationships, gathering honest feedback, and continuously iterating on their product to meet real needs in the legal market.
Key Takeaways:
Magnet Agents launched in July 2025 as an AI-powered client acquisition tool specifically designed for lawyers and law firms
The platform serves users across all firm sizes, from large firm BD professionals and senior associates to partners in smaller firms, primarily in corporate practice areas
Laura’s seven years in legal tech sales and Avinash’s engineering expertise create a powerful combination for building practical legal technology
The legal profession is showing unprecedented interest in AI implementation, with lawyers now more willing to try and adopt new technologies
As a solo developer, Avinash leverages AI coding copilots to build features that would traditionally require larger development teams
Customer feedback has been essential to their success, with users providing honest input that drives product improvements
The platform allows lawyers to input practice area, preferred client type, and outreach method to generate personalized business development strategies
Future roadmap includes advanced features like automatic engagement letter and proposal generation
Laura and Avinash met at Columbia Law School, where their shared interest in the intersection of law and technology led to their partnership
Both founders emphasize the importance of work-life balance through structured routines, Laura with daily walks to Central Park and Avinash with two-week development sprints
Notable Quotes:
“Having worked in legal tech for about seven years, I definitely see a change towards more interest in especially AI, of course. And we also see this with Magnet now that lawyers are, you know, open to learn more about it and to actually try it out.” - Laura Bingenheimer (02:19-02:40)
“It’s an AI client acquisition tool for lawyers.” - Laura Bingenheimer (03:42-03:48)
“I use a number of copolets for my coding workflow. That’s probably what made it possible for me to build this as sort of like a solo development team.” - Avinash Nair (04:23-04:30)
“We have mainly partners from all firm sizes, which is very interesting. And we also have two BD professionals from large firms. But we also have a senior associate from a large firm who wants to build out a certain practice group in the firm.” - Laura Bingenheimer (05:15-05:35)
“This really shows that this can be beneficial across all different practice areas for all different seniorities, across all different firm sizes, for corporate practices mainly, though.” - Laura Bingenheimer (05:38-05:51)
“It’s been really nice to hear from some of our customers saying, like, this is a great tool. I really enjoy the premise. It’s saving me time and that it’s actually a useful tool. So that’s always really validating to hear. And I think that’s been the biggest success so far.” - Avinash Nair (36:08-36:19)
“It’s great to hear that people are really honest with us. You know, like they say, this is great. This is something I would hope for, you know, and they give us the chance to actually build it for them, which is cool.” - Laura Bingenheimer (36:47-36:57)
“Something that’s always interested in me was building things that people need, like that solves real world problems. And I think at the end of the day, we are solving a very real issue that lawyers face with business development.” - Avinash Nair (39:50-40:07)
“Having been in law school, I have a lot of friends who are lawyers. And it’s just cool to build something basically for them, right, that helps them do their work and be successful.” - Laura Bingenheimer (40:26-40:41)
Clips
The AI Adoption Shift
AI-Powered Business Development
The Win-Win of Feedback and Building a Tool for Customers
The Value MagNet Brings to the Solo Practitioner
Laura and Avinash represent a new generation of legal tech founders who combine practical experience with technical innovation. Laura’s years in legal tech sales give her deep insights into what lawyers actually need and will adopt, while Avinash’s development skills, enhanced by AI coding tools, allow them to build and iterate quickly without a large team. Their partnership, forged at Columbia Law School, demonstrates how shared passion for improving legal practice can translate into tangible solutions that serve the profession.
What stands out most is their commitment to solving real problems through honest customer relationships. Rather than building in isolation, they maintain regular feedback sessions with users, allowing genuine needs to drive their product roadmap. This customer-centric approach, combined with the flexibility to adapt quickly, positions Magnet Agents to evolve alongside the rapidly changing legal technology landscape.
Closing Thoughts
As a legal tech entrepreneur who’s been building tools for lawyers for years, I find Laura and Avinash’s approach particularly compelling. They represent the democratization of legal tech entrepreneurship, where small teams leveraging AI can build sophisticated solutions that compete with larger, more established players.
What excites me most about Magnet Agents is its practical focus on a challenge every lawyer faces: business development. Rather than tackling document review or contract analysis, areas where many legal tech companies compete, they’ve identified a pain point that affects lawyers across all practice areas and seniorities. The fact that they’re seeing adoption from large firm BD professionals down to solo practitioners validates this approach.
Laura’s journey through journalism, law school, and legal tech sales demonstrates the value of diverse experience in understanding customer needs. Avinash’s ability to leverage AI coding tools as a solo developer shows how the current technological moment enables lean teams to build powerful applications. Together, they exemplify the kind of practical innovation our profession needs.
For our Legal Rebels community, Laura and Avinash’s story offers several lessons: First, finding the right co-founder with complementary skills multiplies your impact. Second, maintaining close customer relationships and building based on genuine feedback creates sustainable products. Third, leveraging modern AI tools allows small teams to accomplish what previously required substantial resources. Finally, solving real problems that lawyers face daily, rather than pursuing flashy technology for its own sake, leads to meaningful adoption.
As legal AI continues to evolve, founders like Laura and Avinash who combine technical capability with deep market understanding will lead the next wave of innovation. Their success with Magnet Agents demonstrates that the future of legal technology belongs to those who can bridge the gap between what’s technically possible and what lawyers actually need.
