Firms advise as Clio buys vLex in $1bn legal tech shake-up

Legal tech heavyweight Clio has agreed a $1 billion deal to acquire vLex, the Barcelona-founded research and AI platform behind virtual legal assistant Vincent.

Announced on Monday (30 June), the transaction comes on the heels of Harvey’s alliance with vLex competitor LexisNexis last month, and follows Clio’s enormous $900 million Series F fundraise last year that shot the Canadian company’s valuation to $3 billion.

The deal

Clio, founded in 2008, built its name offering practice management software for smaller firms - tools for things like billing, case management and time recording. But in recent years it’s understood to have been looking to target bigger law firm customers in a bid to increase overall market share.

vLex could help accelerate those plans. The Westlaw and LexisNexis rival boasts a library of more than a billion legal documents - which it says is more than any other provider. It is used by the majority of the Am Law 100 and it launched Vincent, its AI assistant, last year.

Similar to the Harvey-LexisNexis partnership, this looks like a bet on bringing together two core pillars of legal tech, in this case combining day-to-day practice management software with legal research in a single platform.

Interestingly, Harvey was reportedly eyeing a deal to buy vLex last year as part of a push to compete with the AI investments being made by Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis, but the deal never happened according to reports from tech publication The Information at the time.

The deal marks a swift exit from vLex for London-based private equity firm Oakley Capital, which invested in the company less than three years ago. Oakley will be partially reinvesting alongside vLex’s founders as the business gears up for its next phase of growth.

Advising

Clio was advised by Canadian firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Palo Alto-based tech specialist Wilson Sonsini and Gowling WLG.

vLex was advised by A&O Shearman and top-tier Spanish firm Uría Menéndez, according to the deal announcement.

Hogan Lovells acted for vLex’s management team, led by London private equity partner James Cross with support from Scott Friedman (tax, New York) and Zohar Nevo (M&A, Boston).

What they said

Jack Newton, CEO and founder of Clio, described the transaction as "a watershed moment for Clio and the broader legal profession."

"By bringing together the business and practice of law in a unified platform, we’re revolutionizing every aspect of legal work.

"This sets the stage for a future powered by agentic AI, and marks the establishment of a new industry category - one that will empower legal professionals to serve clients with unprecedented insight and precision".