Manchester-based LegalTech Summize has acquired key assets and staff from Seattle-based consultancy InnoLaw Group.
Summize’s CEO and co-founder, Tom Dunlop, said the deal represented a ‘significant step’ for the company following the completion of a £40m funding and reinvestment round at the start of the year.
InnoLaw Group is a niche contract lifecycle management (CLM) consultancy that helps legal teams deploy and optimise technology at scale.
The acquisition strengthens Summize’s ability to deliver complex, enterprise-grade CLM implementations to its growing global customer base.
Dunlop said: “The InnoLaw team is highly respected across the legal industry because they understand the realities of in-house legal work and what it actually takes to make CLM successful and useful.
“Bringing the InnoLaw team and the vast amount of knowledge and associated content in-house is a significant step for Summize.
“Their depth of experience in CLM implementation and adoption is exceptional, and their focus on genuine customer value mirrors our own.
“As we welcome more global customers of different sizes from multiple industry sectors, having this level of operational expertise in-house means we can guarantee the kind of value and outcomes our customers expect from AI contract intelligence.”
Lara Trope, chief client officer at InnoLaw, said: “We’ve worked with in-house teams for years and have seen where traditional CLM platforms struggle with lengthy onboarding, low usage and experiences that fail to match how people actually work.
“Summize represents where the market is heading; its focus on outcomes, speed to value and practical adoption is what makes it different.
“Having worked alongside the Summize team on several projects, the cultural fit was obvious, and we’re aligned on our obsession with customer value and outcomes. I’m excited to lead the implementation function and to hit the ground running with new and existing clients.”
Lucy Bassli, CEO and founder of InnoLaw, will not be joining Summize as part of the transaction to pursue her focus on thought leadership and expert content development.
She will continue as an independent adviser to legal tech start-ups and executives.
Bassli said: “This transition was something I thought about carefully and designed with intention.
“The InnoLaw team is joining Summize at exactly the right moment, when legal tech is finally catching up with what in-house teams actually need.
“What stands out about Summize is its commitment to genuine customer outcomes, not just deployment metrics. My ILG team had a very high bar for culture, product, and direction, which Summize definitely met. I’m proud of what we built at InnoLaw, and I’m excited to watch this next chapter unfold while I focus on the broader conversations happening across our industry.”
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.