Chaotic and unsustainable - Senior Software Engineer Lawhive Employee Review

1.0
Oct 16, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A few great colleagues who make the tough days bearable. Competitive compensation for a scaleup.

Cons

I wouldn’t recommend this company to anyone looking for a coherent or professionally run environment. Expect to work beyond regular hours. Expect to be publicly criticised for minor mistakes. Expect little autonomy and less trust. Expect no direction, no culture, and no respect. Projects are chaotic, engineering turnover is high, and leadership is more focused on intellectual posturing than practical outcomes. Otherwise, 10/10 for “cranking.”

avatar
Lawhive Response
8mo
Hello, and thank you your detailed feedback. Firstly, we’re deeply sorry to hear that this is your experience and impression of Lawhive. It’s the opposite of how we want our team to feel. We take all your points on board and take the feedback very seriously. As a rapidly growing Series A startup, we make no secret of the fact the work is demanding and we do our utmost to make this abundantly clear during the hiring process. Similarly, work priorities often need to adapt to feedback from users (in Lawhive’s case both lawyers and consumers), whilst still moving at pace and often in ambiguity. That said, we completely acknowledge your points on the importance of a structured engineering environment and culture, and we have taken huge strides to invest in these rapidly. In under 12 months, we’ve gone from a small, tight-knit startup team of under 20 people to a larger, more mature, but still high performing engineering function and we need to continue to do more to make this work for everyone in it. We are fortunate to have exceptional talent across our engineering team and we will continue to prioritise creating an environment where high performing engineers can thrive. We also know that a high growth, high performance startup environment is not the right fit for everyone, and we aim to have feedback conversations often to address any concerns. We’re rethinking an entire industry - that is demanding. We’ll continue to reflect on all of this and importantly we will continue to make changes to create an engineering culture we can all be proud of. Thanks again for your feedback, and we sincerely hope that you can get back to enjoying your craft!

Explore other reviews about Lawhive

5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some of the most exciting engineering I've done. We're building at the edge of agentic AI, and because legal AI moves so fast, almost every new advance in the field is immediately applicable to what we ship — it doesn't rot in a research backlog. The strategic bet is genuinely contrarian: while the well-funded players (Harvey, Legora) chase the SaaS playbook, we're betting on services-as-software — using AI to actually deliver the legal outcome, not just sell a tool to lawyers. Whether or not you'd place that bet yourself, it makes the problems here more interesting than most. The people are the other draw — smart, low-ego, and genuinely friendly. There's a real social side too: plenty of events, beers after work, the whole thing. Autonomy is high and you ship fast; scope is there for the taking, and people do get promoted — progression is real and merit-based, not a tenure thing. If you're driven, self-directed and high-agency, the upside is well rewarded.

Cons

It's a scale-up and it feels like one. The pace is high, change is constant, and there are stretches of genuinely hard work — go in expecting that. Some benefits are still missing relative to larger companies, there's been some churn, and processes are still maturing for the size we're at. None of it surprised me for this stage, but it's worth knowing: this isn't a settle-in-and-coast environment.

1.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The core concept is interesting, and you can find a supportive peer group among the general staff.

Cons

The executive leadership and founders create an openly hostile, disrespectful, and self-centered environment. They are highly defensive, struggle to accept feedback from qualified professionals, and show a distinct lack of respect for the workforce. There is a total lack of organization, priorities, or alignment. Employees are frequently left with no direction, essentially told to make up their own jobs as they go and invent their own KPIs. Internal oversight is highly concerning, creating significant compliance risks and regulatory exposure. Strategy constantly pivots to chase valuation rather than sustainable revenue, and past acquisition has gone downhill very quickly. With the current trajectory and recent redundancies, there is a very real risk the company could fold by the end of the year. Staff burnout and work-related stress are rampant across multiple departments. Sudden terminations and a tolerance for poor management behavior have completely eroded psychological safety.

7
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All