Legal technology provider Clio has taken a major step on its journey to unite legal research, legal practice management and cutting-edge artificial intelligence with the aim of blurring the boundaries between the legal profession and business. The Canadian company, which specialises in management software for law firms, has reached an agreement to acquire vLex, a pioneering legal intelligence firm that combines cutting-edge AI with the world’s most comprehensive global legal research platform, with over 1 billion editorially enriched legal documents.

The transaction is valued at $1 billion, to be paid in cash and shares, and it will bring together two of the industry’s leading legal research and operating platforms into a single intelligent system. This deal will mark a new era for AI-based legal technology, enabling legal professionals to intelligently execute all aspects of their legal work.

Global legal database
The move marks a turning point for the future of legal work, combining Clio’s legal operating system, which is used by over 200,000 legal professionals, with vLex’s cutting-edge legal intelligence platform.

This platform includes an innovative AI tool called Vincent, which is based on the industry’s most comprehensive global legal database, used by thousands of legal teams around the world. Renowned for its precision and advanced cross-jurisdictional reasoning, Vincent has transformed legal AI, offering faster and deeper insights into global issues.

The combination of the two platforms aims to generate a new category of smart legal technology at the intersection of business and legal practice. Its use will enable legal professionals to manage, research and execute their legal work seamlessly within a unified system. For Clio, this is its most significant acquisition to date, both in terms of scale and strategic impact. In addition to strengthening its platform, this will accelerate the company’s goal of transforming the legal experience for everyone involved.

Reaching maximum potential
Clio’s CEO and Founder, Jack Newton, considers this to be a “watershed moment for Clio and the legal profession in general”, and explained, “For 17 years, we have been working on creating the fundamental platform that enables law firms to reach their full potential. With vLex, we are building on that foundation with technology that understands the essence of law. By integrating business and legal practice on a unified platform, we are revolutionising all aspects of legal work. This lays the foundation for a future powered by autonomous AI and marks the establishment of a new category in the industry, one that will enable legal professionals to serve their clients with unprecedented insight and precision.”

Lluís Faus, CEO and Co-founder of vLex, describes the deal as “the beginning of an unprecedented and transformative era in the legal industry”, and added, “Together with Clio, we have a bold vision for the future that enables legal professionals to move beyond traditional operational and investigative silos, leveraging deeper intelligence and broader impact.”

^{Photo: Clio}