Short answer: At 10-19 staff, Mode is the only program here whose published minimum a law firm meets (10+ for legal, in the US, Canada, UK or Australia, with 3+ years and 5+ systems). From 20 staff, Handshake AI's 20+ rule also applies. micro1 asks for 30+, and Scale AI prefers 40+. Client information is protected by confidentiality rules, so expect a firm-operations scope.
Does your company fit? Check in about a minute.
To see which of these buyers fit a specific company, DataWorth AI's free quiz (about a minute, no email needed) matches it against each program's published rules: https://dataworthai.com/quiz/. It shows reasons, not promises; each program decides on its own review.
On this page
Side by side
| As published | Mode (BizBuyData) We may be paid | Handshake AI No relationship | Scale AI Data Partnerships No relationship | micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership We may be paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headcount rule | 10+ employees for legal; 15+ for accounting, medical and finance; 50+ for all others | 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years in operation | 40+ employees is its preferred starting point, assessed case by case | 30+ employees |
| Countries | United States, Canada, United Kingdom or Australia only | Not published on its license page (its form asks for country) | Not published | US prioritized, then other Western markets; data primarily in English |
| Years, systems, records | 3+ years of records still in their systems; 5+ systems (email, internal chat, file storage, a CRM, plus one more) | Business records from tools such as Gmail, Slack, Drive, NetSuite, QuickBooks and Figma | Years of records in established systems; real operational workflows | Mature business operations with operational data such as SOPs, internal documentation, knowledge bases, CRM metadata, project histories and QA processes |
| Published payout or price | $100K to $5M program-wide. US indicative bands: $200K-$500K (20-49 staff), $400K-$900K (50-149), $800K+ (150+); under 20 quoted individually | $100K to $4M+ payouts | $10K-$1M+ illustrative value per data partnership, scaling with cadence | $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages |
| Exclusivity | Exclusive. The company agrees not to license the same data for external AI training for 24 months (affiliate FAQ); the company page says the agreement defines scope and any exclusivity | Not published | Not published | Not published on its company referral page |
| Data excluded | Health records, payment card data and children's data are excluded. Not a fit: staffing, insurance, title and escrow | Not published; says data is scoped, de-identified and confidential | Not published; says it anonymizes inside your environment before extraction | Not published on its company referral page |
Sources, read October 21, 2026: Mode, Mode affiliate FAQ (PDF, dated Oct 14, 2026), Mode company data partnerships page (FAQ), Handshake AI, Handshake: Introducing Handshake AI Employer Data Partnerships, Scale AI, micro1, micro1 Referral Program Terms (last updated Oct 14, 2026). "Not published" means we could not find it on the program's public pages, not that no rule exists.
Who should pick which
10-19 staff
Mode. Its legal minimum is 10. For US firms under 20, Mode says offers are quoted individually.
20-29 staff
Mode (US band $200K-$500K for 20-49 staff) or Handshake AI (20+ staff, 3+ years). Compare written offers and exclusivity.
Fewer than 5 systems
Mode's 5-system minimum rules it out; Handshake AI doesn't publish a systems minimum.
30+ staff
micro1 also applies. See the 30-49 comparison.
How many firms this covers
About 12,815 US offices of lawyers have 10 to 29 paid employees (2022), from Census SUSB: 17,397 with 10+ minus 4,582 with 30+.
Confidentiality comes first
Lawyers can't reveal information relating to a client's representation without consent or another exception (ABA Model Rule 1.6). In practice that keeps client matter content out and leaves firm operations in scope. Read privilege and licensing and the pre-call checklist before any call.
How we rank and what we're paid
How we rank. We order programs first by whether a company like yours meets each program's published rules, then by how much each program publishes (headcount, countries, records, price, exclusivity, exclusions, timeline). Referral fees play no part. Of the programs compared here, we have referral relationships with Mode and micro1 (marked We may be paid); we have none with the other programs listed.
Sponsored placements: there are none on this page. If we ever accept one, it will be labeled Sponsored where it appears.
What could your company's records be worth?
Answer 6 questions. See the published range for a company like yours and which program fits. Takes about a minute.
Frequently asked questions
Can a 12-person law firm license its data to AI?
On published rules, Mode's 10+ legal minimum is met if the firm is in the US, Canada, UK or Australia and has 3+ years of records in 5+ systems. What can be licensed is limited by client confidentiality.
What would a 25-person US firm be offered?
Mode's indicative US band for 20-49 staff is $200K-$500K. Handshake AI publishes $100K-$4M+ program-wide. These are not offers.
Does Scale AI take law firms?
Scale lists law firms as an industry of interest and says 40+ employees is its preferred starting point, assessed case by case.
Sources
- Mode / BizBuyData referral pagebizbuydata.com
- Mode affiliate FAQ (PDF, dated Oct 14, 2026)bizbuydata.com
- Handshake AI data partnerships: license pagejoinhandshake.com
- Scale AI Data Partnerships page and FAQscale.com
- micro1 company referral pagemicro1.ai
- U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022, detailed employment sizeswww2.census.gov
- ABA Model Rule 1.6, Confidentiality of Informationamericanbar.org
Referral-fee disclosure: DataWorth AI may be paid a referral fee by Mode or micro1 if a company we introduce, or that signs up through our link, signs a deal. Mode says its fee is paid on top of the company's offer, not out of it. We are not an agent of any program. General information only, not legal advice. Disclosure