'Brand matters': Inside Harvey's partnership with Suits star Gabriel Macht

When legal AI company Harvey announced a brand partnership with Suits actor Gabriel Macht - best known for playing sharp-suited closer Harvey Specter - it felt almost scripted.

The announcement this week sparked instant reaction from the Non-Billable community on LinkedIn - mostly positive reactions with a touch of legal humour.

“Harvey Specter selling legal AI? Now THAT'S some next level marketing right there,” wrote one reader.

Another wrote: “Somehow it never occurred to me that this is why Harvey is called Harvey.”

Others riffed on the Harvey Specter persona. “I honestly just assumed the AI was built by Specter as a way to bill more hours while he was at the gym.”

Not everyone was entirely convinced. “So, they just raised $200 million and now start hiring actors?” wrote one commenter.

“When lawyers try to be funny or creative, they footnote the joke with exhibit attached,” wrote another reader.

However you view it, the move clearly landed and got lawyers talking.

Now, we go behind the announcement to get a closer look at the thinking behind it. We caught up with Winston Weinberg, CEO and co-founder of Harvey, to talk about how the collaboration came together, whether it was always part of the company’s strategy, who it’s really for, and what Harvey Specter himself might make of legal AI.

How did the partnership come about? Did Gabriel approach Harvey, or vice versa?

We had an initial discussion very early on in Harvey’s history and it didn’t really go anywhere, but we revisited chatting more about what could be possible a few months ago, and I’m really happy we did. Gabriel was the person we wanted to do this brand partnership with, and it was fun to see how excited our customers were about it - that’s what matters most to us.

Was this always part of the brand strategy, or when did the idea emerge later?

My co-founder Gabe and I had talked about this from the very earliest days of Harvey, but never actually thought it would happen, so we were thrilled when it did. People ask us a lot about the origins of Harvey - the truth is, we tried a more conventional corporate name but people prompt better when they act more human, so giving our platform and company a “human” name wasn’t just a branding idea, it also improved the quality of the output within Harvey.

The name was loosely inspired by two things - a famous legal character, but it also sounds like “Harvard” so it aligned to a premium brand association and that was important to us.

When we finally landed on Harvey, this partnership was something we talked about, but never thought would actually happen, so we are thrilled and grateful to Gabriel’s team for making it happen.

Who is the target audience for this move - law firms, law students, or the broader public?

All of the above - we heard from partners, prospects, and law school ambassadors alike, and we were so happy the partnership resonated. The objective is to build a global brand that resonates with lawyers and future lawyers alike, and this partnership supports that goal.

Does this signal a broader shift towards more public-facing brand building at Harvey?

I don’t think it’s a shift. I think it reflects what we’ve long believed since we started Harvey, which is that brand matters much more than most people think and we are committed to investing in it. And your brand is announcements like these, but also the trust you build every day by listening to customers, acting quickly on their feedback, and building a great team and product.

What do you think Harvey Specter would make of legal AI?

My first reaction was: AI can draft the SPA. I make sure it gets signed. But all kidding aside, I think Harvey Specter knows what we all recognise, which is that AI doesn’t change what makes the best lawyers good at what they do, which is great client service and highly strategic advice.

And it reduces the work on a lot of elements of being a lawyer that no one (including me) enjoyed, so I like to think he would approve and of course be a Harvey user.