A legaltech firm backed by Google’s venture capital arm will this week stake a claim to an industry first when it swoops on Woodstock Legal Services, a bricks-and-mortar law firm.
Sky News has learnt that Lawhive, which is run by co-founder and chief executive Pierre Proner, will on Thursday announce that it has concluded a deal to buy Woodstock, which specialises in property law and conveyancing among a full range of legal services.
The terms of the deal are not expected to be disclosed.
Lawhive’s acquisition of Woodstock will, it says, be a landmark moment for an industry which is proving to be especially susceptible to the disruption posed by advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
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The GV-backed firm has created a cohort of AI ‘colleagues’ which can work alongside Lawhive’s human lawyers.
Lawhive, which was founded in 2019, offers legal services across 12 areas of consumer law, including family law, civil litigation and property.
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Lawrence is Lawhive’s first such AI innovation, serving as a proprietary legal assistant capable of conducting work at the level of junior lawyers known as paralegals.
Woodstock was viewed by Mr Proner as a particularly attractive target because of the volume of manual filing and administration involved in property-related legal work.
Clients involved in housing and other real estate transactions, meanwhile, frequently bemoan delays caused by paperwork and poor communication from counterparties involved in the deal process.
The conveyancing legal market is said to be worth roughly £2bn in the UK annually.
“We are demonstrating that technology can support and enhance the best aspects of legal practice while creating communities where lawyers shape how that technology evolves,” Mr Proner said.
“We believe that Lawhive’s vertically integrated model of a regulated law firm and tech platform for lawyers to work alongside AI colleagues, creates better outcomes for everyone.”
Lawhive raised about £38m in seed and Series A funding last year, with other backers including New York-based fund TQ Ventures and Balderton, the London-based investor which has reaped a stellar return from its investment in the banking and payments group Revolut.
A number of Premier League footballers, including Manchester United defender Harry Maguire and Reece James, the Chelsea and England wing-back, are also understood to have invested in Lawhive.
Sources close to the company said it would launch a further, larger fundraising in the next six months, with additional acquisitions also expected to be considered.
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Mr Proner said Lawhive’s revenues had grown sevenfold in the last year.
Woodstock Legal Services was founded by Carly Jermyn in 2014, and operates through a consultancy model with more than 50 regulated lawyers on its books.
She said: “This partnership is about scaling that vision with the right kind of technology – AI that enhances our skills and values, rather than eroding them.
“What makes it unique is that our lawyers will have the opportunity to shape the tools they use every day, instead of having them imposed on them.”
Woodstock’s lawyers will be able to utilise Lawhive’s AI tools, while retaining the firm’s existing brand.
The deal between Lawhive and Woodstock underlines a growing trend for so-called AI-native companies to acquire traditional services firms to modernise their operations.
