For many early-stage founders and changemakers across Asia, the journey often begins with identifying a broken system—and daring to fix it. Muiz Shahabuddin, a two-time National ICT Award winner and the mind behind several impact-driven ventures including LegalX, saw one such gap in Bangladesh’s legal landscape. It wasn’t just inefficiency. It was the sense of helplessness—the feeling that unless you had deep pockets or insider access, justice simply wasn’t an option.
It’s a story that resonates across the region. Whether you’re a solo founder trying to draft your first vendor agreement or a small business navigating employee disputes, the complexity and cost of legal help can feel like a brick wall. That’s exactly the barrier LegalX set out to break—by turning fear, confusion, and inaccessibility into simplicity, transparency, and trust.
Backed by real-life experiences and a passion for democratizing justice, Muiz and his co-founder Maliha Rahham built Bangladesh’s first-ever digital legal platform. What started as a personal frustration quickly evolved into a tech-powered mission—one that could redefine what access to justice means in developing economies.
Key Takeaways
- LegalX makes legal help affordable and accessible in Bangladesh through tech-powered solutions.
- Trust and transparency are key to breaking traditional barriers in the legal industry.
- Muiz Shahabuddin and his team prove that innovation can solve deeply rooted, real-world problems.
Highlights
Reimagining Legal Access in Bangladesh
Q: LegalX is Bangladesh’s first-ever digital legal service platform. What inspired you to launch LegalX, and what specific challenges in the legal industry were you aiming to solve?
A: LegalX started from personal experience. A few years ago, Maliha Rahham (CEO & Co-Founder of LegalX) was seeking legal assistance for a family matter, and I was shocked by how difficult and expensive it was to get the right assistance. Finding a good lawyer felt like navigating a maze as there was no clear guidance, no transparent pricing, and no easy way to know who to trust if you are not a person with access to legal professionals. That experience stuck with me.
We spoke to people about what we had noticed and realized our experience wasn’t unique. Millions of people in Bangladesh face legal issues every year, yet so many never seek help. They either don’t know where to start, are scared of the costs, or simply can’t access a lawyer in their area. It felt unfair that something as important as legal support was so out of reach for the average person.
That’s why we started LegalX, with a simple goal to make legal help accessible, affordable, and hassle-free. We wanted to remove the confusion and intimidation that often come with legal services. By combining technology with a human-centered approach, we built a platform where people can ask legal questions, find the right lawyer, draft legal documents, and get guidance all in a way that is simple and transparent.
At its core, LegalX is about empowering people. We believe that justice shouldn’t be a privilege for a few, rather it should be available to everyone, regardless of their background or financial situation. That’s what drives us every day.
Q: Access to legal services can be complex and costly. How does LegalX simplify this process, and what has been the biggest barrier in making legal assistance more accessible through technology?
A: Legal services have traditionally been expensive, time-consuming, and often intimidating. At LegalX, we wanted to change that by making legal help as simple, affordable, and accessible as possible. We tried keeping our prices as low as possible, instead of huge upfront legal fees, we offer budget-friendly subscription plans and a pay-per-service model so people only pay for what they need.
Many people hesitate to approach lawyers, to minimize that hesitation we introduced chat-based consultation so that people can clarify their confusion before committing to a full legal consultation, which they can again search from our database. Additionally, we’ve simplified contract drafting, users can draft, vet, and access legal documents digitally at a fraction of the usual cost, making legal documentation more accessible to businesses and individuals alike.
But, of course, bringing legal services into the digital space hasn’t been without challenges. The biggest barrier has been trust. Many people still believe legal help has to be in-person and expensive to be legitimate. They hesitate to rely on technology for something as serious as legal issues. To overcome this, we’ve focused on building credibility, partnering with trusted legal professionals, ensuring transparency in pricing, and offering personalized human support alongside our technology. We’re proving, step by step, that getting legal help doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating.
Q: As a legal tech startup, you operate in a highly regulated industry. What were some key regulatory hurdles you faced while establishing LegalX, and how did you navigate them?
A: Operating in the legal sector comes with a unique set of challenges, especially in a country like Bangladesh, where legal tech is still a new concept. From the beginning, we knew that compliance and regulatory alignment would be critical for LegalX to function effectively and earn public trust. One of the biggest hurdles we faced was ensuring that our digital legal services complied with existing laws and regulations while also bridging gaps in accessibility. Since legal advisory work is traditionally restricted to licensed professionals, we had to clearly define our role as a facilitator rather than a replacement for lawyers. That meant working closely with legal experts to structure our services in a way that complements, rather than competes with, the legal profession.
Another challenge was data privacy and security. Legal matters are deeply personal, so we had to implement strict data protection measures to ensure user confidentiality. We built our platform with secure encryption and access control mechanisms, and we remain compliant with data protection laws to give users confidence in using our services. Additionally, navigating bureaucratic roadblocks was a learning curve. Since Bangladesh doesn’t yet have specific legal tech regulations, we had to engage with policymakers and lawyers to establish credibility and ensure compliance with existing legal service frameworks.
We were very proactive in overcoming these hurdles, as lawyers ourselves we understood what had to be done and sought legal guidance early, built partnerships with law firms, regulatory bodies, and remained flexible in adapting our platform to align with evolving legal standards. At the end of the day, we see LegalX as a tool that enhances legal access rather than disrupts the legal profession.
Q: LegalX operates at the intersection of law and technology. How do you leverage AI or digital tools to enhance transparency, efficiency, and trust in legal services?
A: Technology is at the heart of LegalX, and we are constantly working to make legal services simpler, faster, and more transparent using AI. Our focus is on leveraging technology to reduce barriers in accessing legal help and automating processes that traditionally require expensive legal assistance. We are integrating AI into our chatbot to provide instant legal guidance to users to save time. While it doesn’t replace a lawyer, it will help people understand their legal situation, access relevant legal information, and get directed to the right legal service before they even need to speak to a lawyer. Finding the right lawyer can be overwhelming, so we use a smart lawyer-matching system that helps users connect with legal professionals based on expertise, budget, and location and ensures users can compare options and make informed decisions rather than just relying on word-of-mouth referrals.
Currently, we are working on an AI-powered contract drafting tool, which can be a game-changer for both individuals and businesses. It will allow users to generate legally sound contracts quickly, based on their specific needs. Instead of manually drafting documents from scratch or paying hefty fees, users will be able to answer a few key questions, and the system will automatically generate a legally structured document, ensuring compliance and accuracy.
Q: Since its founding, how has LegalX grown in terms of user adoption, partnerships, or impact? Are there any success stories or milestones that highlight the platform’s effectiveness?
A: Since its founding, LegalX has grown steadily, making a tangible impact in the legal tech space in Bangladesh. Every month, around 400 users sign in to the platform, with 35-45% purchasing a package to access legal services. We have also built a strong network of over 25 partnerships with private organizations and NGOs, allowing it to serve both B2B and B2C clients effectively. These collaborations enable the platform to address a wide range of legal issues, from corporate compliance to individual rights protection.
One particularly meaningful success story feels like a personal success which involved a group of 12 chauffeurs working for a major private company. They were unfairly facing termination, and one of their family members reached out through LegalX to understand their legal options. The platform not only provided initial legal guidance but also ensured they had professional legal representation. Throughout the process, the LegalX team also played a crucial role in bridging the communication gap, offering additional support to the chauffeurs whenever they struggled to understand complex legal discussions with their lawyers. After extensive negotiations, all 12 chauffeurs were able to retain their jobs. Success stories like this validates our vision that we are on the right path to provide people with legal resources they require.
Q: With the rise of legal tech solutions worldwide, how do you see the legal landscape evolving in Bangladesh? What’s next for LegalX, and how do you plan to scale its impact further?
A: When we started off in 2018, there was not much happening in the legal tech scene in Bangladesh but the landscape is gradually shifting towards digitization, but challenges like regulatory adaptation, digital literacy, and trust in online legal services remain. As legal tech gains traction, we expect to see greater acceptance of online consultations, AI-driven legal assistance, and automated document generation, making legal services more efficient and accessible. We aim to lead this transformation by scaling our impact through an AI-based vetting system to verify and onboard lawyers quickly and efficiently and enabling secure on demand video consultations and document sharing.
The most ambitious plan we have is to partner up with fintech companies to provide services ancillary to theirs for their clients. If achieved successfully I am sure LegalX can be positioned to make legal services in Bangladesh reach new heights empowering both individuals and businesses with the legal support they need.
The Road Ahead: LegalX’s Vision for Tomorrow
As startups across Asia continue to push boundaries and disrupt outdated industries, LegalX stands as a reminder that real innovation isn’t just about convenience—it’s about inclusion. By blending legal integrity with digital innovation, Muiz Shahabuddin and his team are proving that meaningful impact starts with solving deeply felt challenges.
LegalX’s journey also signals something larger: that underserved systems—like law—are ripe for transformation when vision meets empathy. For founders reading this, whether you’re solving for healthcare, education, or fintech, the lesson is clear. Look for friction. Feel the frustration. And build with the belief that accessibility is not a luxury, but a right.
As LegalX scales with AI-powered tools and fintech integrations, its mission remains steadfast: to make justice not just more available, but more human. And in doing so, perhaps they’re not just building a legal tech company—but restoring belief in what legal help should feel like.
Highlights
Read the article in Chinese here.
