Earlier this year Allens launched a locally designed and focused startup practice called Accelerate, whereas Gilbert + Tobin has invested in legal tech startup LegalVision, and DLA Piper undertook a joint venture with international contract lawyer firm Lawyers On Demand.

"There is no question that all major law firms are thinking about what the legal industry will look like in five to 10 years, and what that means for their businesses," Mr Spanner said.

"This provides an avenue for the bigger firms to work with the tech startups and provides an avenue to access a market that traditionally we may have found out of reach, in terms of providing genuine quality legal advice."

LawPath meanwhile has previously been viewed as a disruptor to the traditional law firms. Its model of providing pre-packaged legal services online takes some of the bread and butter, form-filling legal work away from law firms.

The startup raised $1.3 million itself last October, and says it has more than 20,000 small to medium businesses using its platform. In the last year it says its revenue has risen by 800 per cent, with customer numbers up 400 per cent.

LawPath co-founder and CEO Damien Andreasen said this particular product had been developed alongside Norton Rose Fulbright, so would not be available through other legal firms. He said avoiding excessive legal fees would make a big difference to startups at a crucial stage of their growth.

"I have been through and done capital raises myself and legal fees starting at $2099 for all of the investment documents you need to raise capital and for four plus hours with a senior lawyer is very affordable in comparison to the traditional model," he said.

"There is no longer any doubt that technology will change the way legal services are provided. The big question is how new and established players in the industry will respond."