Consilio, global leader in legal technology solutions and enterprise legal services, has come to an agreement to acquire Lawyers On Demand (LOD), a pioneer in flexible legal talent, and SYKE, a premier legal technology consultancy headquartered in the UK. This acquisition will extend Consilio’s Enterprise Legal Services (ELS) business to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia, expand its current UK business, and further amplify Consilio’s overall global presence.
Since its creation in 2007, LOD has built a community of more than 4,500 legal practitioners providing clients with on-demand expertise to meet clients’ needs. The practitioners include lawyers, legal engineers, legal operations consultants, paralegals and risk & compliance professionals across 25 countries.
LOD’s clients include 27 members of the FTSE 100 and 54 members of the ASX 200. In 2021, LOD began its relationship with SYKE, Europe’s top legal technology consultancy driving legal system implementations, optimization and commercial contracting services.
“The Flexible Talent market remains fragmented, and we continue to explore opportunities to create impactful solutions for legal teams, as they face an unprecedented amount of talent concerns as a result of historically high attrition rates, budgetary freezes and legal industry salary increases out of reach for many corporations,” said Andy Macdonald, Chief Executive Officer of Consilio.
“This acquisition brings LOD’s and SYKE’s deep expertise in flexible legal talent and legal technology consulting onboard, while unlocking greater scale and capabilities for our clients,” Macdonald added.
On the other hand, LOD Founder Simon Harper commented:
“Consilio has a great story, as it has a history of bringing very strategic acquisitions into its fold to become the global leader in legal consulting and services, as well as the world’s largest eDiscovery provider. We’re excited about our shared culture and the vision for what we can offer together to global legal teams. I’ve watched the growth of Consilio’s enterprise legal services business over recent years, and look forward to combining forces to reflect client needs, and to establish one of the largest legal flexible talent and advisory companies in the space.”
On completion of the acquisition, UK private equity firm Bowmark Capital will realize its five-year investment in LOD and SYKE – a period defined by considerable growth.
Jones Day served as legal advisor, while William Blair & Company acted as financial advisor to Consilio. Rothschild served as financial advisor for LOD, while Stephenson Harwood advised LOD and SYKE.