JUF.dk - Feeding Lawyers

My next meeting is taking place in Valby, one of the suburbs of Copenhagen. I am about to meet with Halfdan Timm, founder of JUF.dk. I circle around the building a couple of times to find a spot where I can lock my bike - it seems like I am not the only biker here.

- Hey, you made it! Welcome!

Halfdan seems to be in an exceptionally good mood today. Not that I can compare with anything, since this is the first time we meet. I dive right into it and ask him how it all started.

- I was, or still am, studying law in Aarhus, and I for some reason started to write a Q&A kind of website about the things I've learned. Mostly about contracts and wills and such things.

In parallel with his studies, Halfdan was working part-time with online marketing.

- When I saw that the site actually started to generate traffic, the online marketer inside of me realize that "hey, this might actually be a business opportunity"!

The name of the site was up until then called "Byens-Advokat.dk" (the lawyer of the city), but the Danish BAR association was not too happy about the name.

- They called my school to check whether I was a lawyer or not. Since I was like six years from it, I had to change name of the site.

The name name then became JUF.dk, a name without meaning.

- Haha, I knew you were going to ask. Nah, Jur.dk was taken, so it became JUF. And it also became a company. People that visited my site were not doing this over a glass of wine on a Saturday, they were in deep trouble and hence also willing to acquire legal service. Hot leads, you can call it.

The idea of the site is that people in need of juridical assistance write to JUF about their situation. JUF then match the clients with suitable lawyers or accountants.

- Lawyers are very professional, but they don't have a clue about how to get new clients. They know nothing about marketing, but I do. Accountants are perhaps a little bit more progressive, but not a lot. It has proven to be quite successful idea, and now there is even some competition. What sets JUF apart is that we also tell the clients when they don't need a lawyer. Hence, we are more objective than the competitors.

Recently, one of the competitors made an offer of acquiring JUF.

- This was the third time they asked, and now the time felt right. I actually sold the company a couple of weeks ago. But there are still some paperwork work to be done.

I ask him what his future plans are.

- I am finishing my degree in Aarhus now, and then I like to travel before I start on something new. Currently, I am doing some online marketing consulting. By the way, have you ever eaten surströmming?

I tell him that I actually haven't, and he then insists on showing me a video with some men from Texas eating surströmming. Inspired by the clip, I indulge in a banana from the fruit basket, thank Halfdan for the interview and head out in the autumn sun again.