In an uncommon move, Fisher Phillips, an Atlanta-based firm of approximately 500 attorneys, recently announced its acquisition of Blue Pencil Box, a legal technology startup. More frequently, law firms opt to develop their own capabilities and spin them off, or purchase services from external vendor platforms.
Blue Pencil Box offers effective tools enabling companies to monitor and track rapidly changing regulatory and enforcement landscapes for non-compete agreements. As part of the acquisition, Blue Pencil Box will be assimilated into Fisher Phillips’s technology hub, “fpSolutions,” which is designed to aid firms with compliance issues. Jonathan Crook, the startup’s founder, will transition into a partner role at Fisher Phillips and will oversee Blue Pencil Box’s offerings within the fpSolutions suite.
Legal industry professionals have long speculated on how best to meet client demands for more efficient workflows. A study published last week revealed that disruption stemming mainly from the influence of artificial intelligence is expected to significantly impact Big Law. Establishing in-house tech departments, however, can often be a costly endeavor for most firms, both in terms of finances and resources.
Even so, Lourdes Fuentes, founder of Karta Legal, a consultancy offering legal operations and practice management services, suggests that more firms may start opting to “buy, not build”, as a means of augmenting their technology offerings. This view is echoed by Jonathan Crook, who is of the opinion that alternative avenues exist for firms to provide outstanding client services that do not necessarily rely wholly on the traditional billable hour model.
Thus, more firms may potentially seek to purchase legal tech companies as part of their strategy to bolster in-house technology. However, in some jurisdictions, such a move may be hindered due to certain state laws dictating that firms be lawyer-owned. For law firms to venture into direct legal tech purchases, more jurisdictions would need to relax these rules.
While this “Buy vs. Build” dilemma continues to face firms contemplating their legal tech strategies, many have opted for diverse methods to expand their tech capabilities in recent years. Law firms have hired software coders, built legal tech startups, and set up venture capital operations specifically focused on investments in legal tech, as part of their strategies to counter the impact of industry disruptions like artificial intelligence.
In conclusion, the acquisition by Fisher Phillips may become a pioneering example for law firms considering a similar approach to expanding their technology offerings, in anticipating and embracing the rapidly evolving legal tech landscape.