Joel Geddis, Founder & CEO of ReferU.AI: “When someone needs an attorney, they’re often facing life’s most unexpected, formidable challenges. Finding an attorney should be the easiest lift.”

The Silicon Review

ReferU.AI began with a simple question that shouldn’t be hard to answer: who is actually the right lawyer for this case? The story that sparked the company makes that gap painfully clear. When a close friend’s four-year-old daughter suffered a traumatic injury, her family did everything people are told to do. They searched online. They called bar associations. They asked around. And for two years, 140 firms shrugged and said the matter wasn’t a fit. Joel Geddis, then a senior executive at Allganize.AI, refused to accept that outcome. He pulled the court records, built an AI agent to sift through them, and uncovered a young trial lawyer with the exact track record the case needed. Fifteen minutes later, that lawyer enthusiastically took the case, and, a single demand letter changed the child’s life. The result was a win, but it also revealed a deeper truth. Consumers were still choosing attorneys based on marketing instead of evidence, and qualified attorneys were unknowingly overlooking winnable cases. Both sides were stuck with outdated tools and no real way to find each other.

ReferU.AI, founded in 2024 as a Public Benefit Corporation, exists to fix that. The fully remote, globally distributed team built a matching engine that works the way people think and attorneys actually practice. Users describe their situation in plain language. The platform then taps into billions of court dockets, filings, oral-argument transcripts, judicial opinions, and detailed analytics across thousands of courts. Its patent-pending AI scans that landscape and identifies attorneys who’ve already won matters like theirs. It even handles outreach so users aren’t left cold-calling firms or waiting for help.

What this really means is that finding the right lawyer finally becomes fast, evidence-driven, and fair. That little girl shouldn’t have needed an AI experiment to get justice. Now no one else has to.

In conversation with Joel Geddis, Founder and CEO of ReferU.AI

What makes ReferU.AI unique?

Instead of using achaic keyword- and filter-based searches, users explain the legal matter in plain language and we transform raw court data into actionable insights.

Second, our search results are unadulterated. While search engines and lawyer directories may surface results based on marketing budgets, ReferU.AI doesn’t allow attorney advertising on its platform, so searches are based on evidence, not hearsay.

Third, we’re truly user-first. ReferU.AI is free for users, speaks 50+ languages, and considers budget, payment preferences, location, language and accessibility preferences, and more.

ReferU.AI addresses a critical gap in the legal market, where only 36% of clients reported a “seamless” experience when finding an attorney and 72% of law firms reported needing higher quality – not more – opportunities.And the single most important factor when determining “fit” – according to 50% of clients and 43% of attorneys – is experience in similarmatters. How does your platform redefine client-attorney engagement?

ReferU.AI addresses each issue.
First, we make intake seamless

by automating research, consideration, and contact. Second, by mining
court records for case-specific experience and patterns, users can be more informed when making their selection.

Your platform analyzes billions of court records to provide data-driven attorney recommendations. Beyond win rates, what other unique metrics does your AI evaluate to assess an attorney’s suitability for a specific case?

Interestingly, while “win rate” sounds decisive, it’s not a level playing field as win rates can simply reflect selective intake. And, though two cases can share the same docket-level label, it lacks the nuance of the underlying filings, side-adjustments, judge and venue effects, posture, stakes, and other data. The bottom line is: there’s no easy way to “rank” an attorney.

ReferU.AI is a matchmaking

platform, not an attorney ranking system. We use a multi-factor approach that considers every available data point to match users with attorneys with demonstrable experience in similar fact-patters.

How does this level of detail distinguish ReferU.AI between traditional lawyer directories and state bar-operated referral services?

Traditional lawyer directories provide limited information such as practice areas, education, licensure date, courts of admittance, disciplinary history, client reviews and, sometimes, firm and attorney profiles. Importantly, traditional lawyer directories generally earn revenue through paid placements. Whereas, ReferU.AI is unbiased and does not allow attorney advertising to influence its algorithm.

State bar-operated lawyer referral services are designed for fairness, not precision matching. They enroll attorneys onto practice-area panels, screen for basic eligibility (e.g., subject-matter preferences, geography, language, insurance, etc.), and then, assign referrals by rotation so opportunities are distributed impartially. In short: bar LRSs flip through a rolodex that’s “fair” for attorneys, not consumers; ReferU.AI matches on evidence.

Do you have any data points that show why this matters?

Yes, for illustrative purposes only because, as previously mentioned, ReferU.AI uses a multi-factor algorithm – not win rates.

We conducted a “secret shop” of leading lawyer directories and searched “Top DWI Attorney Near Me.” In that venue, their first organic result tried 0 (zero!) related offenses that year. ReferU.AI surfaced an attorney who represented 672 and won 88%, far exceeding that court’s average win rate of 59%.

As a Public Benefit Corporation, ReferU.AI pledges a portion of its profits to support victims of child abuse and neglect. How does this social mission align with your core business values?

Our origin story defined our mission at ReferU.AI: Smarter Results, Better Representation, and the Best Outcomes, and our purpose of supporting child victims of abuse and neglect.

We believe equal access to justice starts with equal access to quality representation, yet, that’s not the current state. Only 23% of children – our smallest voices in a complex child-welfare system – were represented by attorneys and, in 22% of cases, the child was never even mentioned in a process designed to protect them. This subjects them to unfair hearings, unjust removals, and unsafe placements, resulting in lower educational achievement and higher likelihood of homelessness and incarceration.

So, we established the ReferU.AI Giving Fund, a Donor-Advised Fund which awards grants to vetted local 501(c)(3) organizations that specialize in child advocacy to compensate attorneys who represent child victims at little to no cost.

Our mission and purpose are embedded in everything we do: the majority of our customers have elected to increase their invoices to contribute and our team members are invited to donate a portion of their paycheck to the ReferU.AI Giving Fund.

A byproduct of this is that it’s fueled purposeful growth; customers rally behind us with referrals and we’re motivated by the direct link between the code we ship and the impact on users’ lives.

What role should for-profit companies play in addressing societal issues?

For-profit companies should focus on material, adjacent issues where they have unique strengths and start local by partnering with community organizations where they operate. By making it operational and baking commitments into everything they do, it’s more than charity — impact is magnified by everyday decisions.

The legal industry is often resistant to technological disruption. What challenges have you faced in gaining traction and trust within this traditional sector?

People are increasingly trusting AI with their legal questions. Still, privacy and security are core features of our product because earning trust starts with how we handle data.

We’re SOC 2 certified, meaning an independent auditor has formally verified that our security and privacy practices meet strict industry standards. Put simply, SOC 2 certification shows that our systems protect user data with the same rigor expected in highly regulated sectors like finance and healthcare.

We don’t train our models on user content, automatically redact personally identifiable information pre-processing, and minimize what we retain within legal limits. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256), with additional field-level encryption for especially sensitive fields. Access is locked behind multi-factor authentication (MFA), strict role-based access permissions (RBAC), continuous monitoring, and audit logs. We run monthly third-party penetration tests, operate a paid bug-bounty program for ethical hackers, and transparently publish summaries of findings. We don’t sell or share user data; limited disclosures go only to licensed attorneys to evaluate potential representation.

How has your fully-remote, globally distributed team contributed to your innovative approach?

Immensely. It was a deliberate, well-considered decision: we can access top talent by casting the widest net — that’s a competitive advantage — and by bringing diverse perspectives and continuous collaboration across time zones, we drive creativity, engagement, and long-term retention in how we manage and grow our team.

What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

Yes! I can’t share details yet, but we have several industry-leading products right on the heels of ReferU.AI and a quarterly launch cadence through 2026.

““Joel Geddis, Founder & CEO of ReferU.AI, and the team celebrate being recognized as the Top 30 Innovative Companies to Watch.”