Often described as the legal equivalent of Uber, flexible lawyering start-up Lexoo has secured $4.4m in financing to overhaul its global business development.
The backing has been led by investment house Earlybird with additional financing from Forward Partners and Zoopla general counsel (GC) Ned Staple. Continue reading “‘Part of a wider trend’: Flexible lawyering start-up Lexoo secures $4.4m for business development overhaul”
Maritime and insurance specialist HFW has set up a standalone consultancy arm, branded HFW Consulting.
The new business, launched today (3 October), will be headed up by the firm’s director of learning and development, Chris O’Callaghan, and will initially focus on Middle Eastern, Asian and Australian clients. Continue reading “‘The right opportunity’: HFW reacts to client demand with strategic consultancy business”
US legal services provider UnitedLex has landed a $500m war chest to capitalise on a ‘multi-billion dollar opportunity’ after private equity giant CVC Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the business.
UnitedLex has grown to more than 2,700 lawyers, engineers and consultants since it launched in 2006, providing legal services to clients across 18 countries. It says it has signed contracts worth $1.8bn in the last 18 months, including high-profile deals with DXC Technologies and GE. Continue reading “New Law leader UnitedLex targets rapid expansion after acquisition by PE heavyweight CVC”
In a significant benchmark for the legal tech sector, leading AI platform Kira Systems has sealed $50m of private equity backing from New York-based Insight Venture Partners, as legal tech companies continue to prime for growth.
The investment, announced today (5 September), is the first external backing the AI company has received since its inception in 2011, with ex-Weil Gotshal & Manges associate and co-founder Noah Waisberg and Kira CTO Alexander Hudek initially funding the start-up themselves. The company saw year-on-year revenue growth of more than 100% for 2017. Continue reading “Start me up: Highly-rated legal AI platform Kira secures a record $50m in private equity backing”
Legal tech start-up Apperio is switching to growth mode after closing a $10m funding round that will enable it to double in size to 40 staff and expedite further expansion into the US market.
Apperio, founded in 2013 and formerly called Legal Tender, is a platform that provides companies with real-time transparency on legal fees while tracking matters. It can also be used to assess and monitor law firm performance: features which combine to both manage in-house budgets and help general counsel (GC) show value. Continue reading “‘Europe’s waking up to legal tech’: another hefty funding round as start-up Apperio raises $10m”
A start-up from Allen & Overy’s (A&O) Fuse innovation hub is one of the first 17 companies to join banking giant Barclays’ legal technology lab.
Deal platform Legatics, which has been in Fuse for each of A&O’s first two cohorts, has taken up residence at Barclays’ 100-person LawTech Eagle Lab in London’s Notting Hill. AI provider ayfie, contract generator Ginie AI, and document collaboration platform Annotate are the only other start-ups in the lab to have been named. Continue reading “A&O Fuse start-up among first to take space at Barclays’ law tech lab”
Mid-tier pacesetter Fieldfisher has become the latest firm to explore volume legal services, opening a low-cost hub in Belfast to be staffed by 125 people.
The new Northern Irish office will provide document negotiation and legal support from a team largely consisting of paralegals. The venture is being launched in conjunction with Donaldson Legal Consulting (DLC), with which Fieldfisher has had a Belfast tie-up since the end of last year. Continue reading “‘Not starting from scratch’: Fieldfisher opens high-volume hub in Belfast”
Mere months after New Law pioneer Lawyers On Demand (LOD) secured private equity backers to position itself as a global player, fellow alternative legal services business darling, Riverview Law, has been acquired by Big Four accountancy firm EY.
The financial details of the deal, announced today (7 August), were not disclosed, but Riverview’s turnover is believed to have risen to more than £10m since it launched in 2012, meaning the acquisition is expected to carry a hefty price tag. Continue reading “Into the mainstream: another big New Law exit sees EY acquire Riverview Law”
Withers has bought out six-partner UK tech law boutique JAG Shaw Baker in the latest chapter of its global expansion.
JAG’s 26-lawyer team has today (1 August) joined Withers’ London and Cambridge operations as the private wealth specialist targets investors and entrepreneurs in the life sciences and digital world. Continue reading “Withers targets global tech industry with acquisition of UK boutique JAG”
Allen & Overy (A&O) is unlikely to replace the start-up that has been snapped up by Facebook just two months after it joined Fuse, the magic circle firm’s innovation hub.
London-based Bloomsbury AI, which has built a tool that can read documents and answer questions about them, is joining the social media giant in a deal reportedly worth between $23m and $30m. Facebook has confirmed the move but would not comment on its value. Continue reading “Allen & Overy Fuse start-up Bloomsbury sold to Facebook for $23m”
