Freshfields and Cooley steer launch of AI-native law firm for private markets

Freshfields and Cooley have advised on US private markets software company Carta’s acquisition of UK-based ABS Avantia Law.

Founded in 2012, Carta made its name as a cap table management platform for startups and investors before expanding into fund administration and private markets infrastructure and now embedded legal services.

Avantia Law is an AI-native law firm and compliance provider for asset managers. The deal rebrands the company and launches “Carta Law”, an AI-native platform.

Carta said the acquisition would allow it to combine legal services, software and compliance into a single operating platform, with the company positioning the offering as a faster and lower-cost alternative to traditional legal delivery models.

The company cites examples of common frictions for private capital firms including fragmented infrastructure across multiple vendors, wait times for NDAs, delayed LP onboarding and lack of transparency in legal spend.

Routine legal work

Harry Ward, Carta chief executive, said: "The largest PE firms in the world are paying top-tier law firms for high-volume, ultimately routine legal work, and they shouldn't have to.

Carta Law changes that by connecting Avantia's AI-native delivery, outcome-based pricing, and lawyer-backed review directly to Carta's system of record for private capital.”

Carta serves 50,000 companies in more than 160 countries, connecting GPs and LPs to CEO, CFOs, employees and advisors.

Outcome-as-a-service

Avantia chief executive James Sutton said: “We founded Avantia in 2019 on a contrarian bet - that AI could deliver legal and compliance outcomes, not just assist with them.

Pioneering that outcome-as-a-service model drove rapid growth across some of the world's largest asset managers, and ultimately brought us here. Now, as part of Carta, we are excited to take it to the whole ecosystem.”

Avantia serves more than 200 global asset managers, including 30% of the world’s largest funds.

Embedded legal

The transaction highlights a broader shift toward a future with more embedded legal services, where legal advice is increasingly integrated into software platforms and operational infrastructure rather than delivered as a standalone advisory service.

Real estate legal AI company Orbital recently backed the launch of Farringdon, an AI-native conveyancing firm designed to address inefficiencies in the UK residential property market.

Rather than operating as a traditional standalone law firm, the model integrates conveyancing processes directly with estate agents, buyers and transaction participants using AI.

Advising

Freshfields advised Carta with a team led by London corporate M&A partner Ziyad Nassif.

Cooley advised Avantia with a team led by M&A partner Ben Shribman and emerging companies partner Aaron Archer, both based in London. Cooley previously advised Avantia on its Series A in 2024.