Riverview Law, the fixed priced legal services business, is set to open a second US office with a launch in New Jersey in August as it looks to broaden its offering in the States.
The move marks Riverview Law’s first full blooded attempt to win business in the US, with its current office in Manhattan employing two people to carry out research and development. The New Jersey outpost will offer software and business development for US corporations needing English legal support.
Just 90 km away from its Manhattan base and close to the technology and entrepreneurial community surrounding Princeton University, Riverview Law is aiming to fill its New Jersey office with 10 staff before the end of 2015.
The firm, which has expanded from 150 to 200 staff including barristers over the past 12 months, is not yet planning to offer legal advice in the US but will offer side-services including analytics and legal tech. The opening follows a period of rapid growth that has seen the launch of Riverview Law In-House Solutions, which licenses Riverview Law technology, and a new partnership with the University of Liverpool to create artificial intelligence services for the legal market.
Andy Daws, North America vice president at Riverview Law, said: ‘Our US expansion, focused on business development for customers wanting access to the English courts, client management and technology, is a testament to our customer-centric business model. Working with our IT and legal colleagues in the UK, we’re transitioning from a tech-enabled to a tech-led business. We’re using existing and emerging technologies to develop easy to use solutions with unrivalled analytics capabilities, all designed to help our own teams and our customers make better and quicker decisions.’
Riverview Law’s largest office in Wirral, has also begun a recruitment drive in a bid to attract lawyers from Chester, Liverpool, Wirral and north Wales.
Riverview Law operates under an alternative business structure licence in the UK and became profitable in October last year. The firm, founded in 2012, expects to double its revenue to around £9m during its current financial year, which runs for the 12 months to 30 September.
Katy Robson, operations director at Riverview Law, said: ‘We can provide our team and new joiners with a long-term, secure career in a rapidly growing business that is helping to change the legal market.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
