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Major legal fintech acquisition goes ahead
A legal fintech start-up has acquired a barrister practice management product to become what it calls an Australian market leader in practice management software for barristers.
Tony Zhang
BarBooks Australia’s mission to become the dominant practice management provider in the Australian barrister market has moved one step closer through its recent acquisition of TA Law’s iChambers business.
“We are incredibly excited to consolidate our position as market leader within Australia,” Morag Latta, CEO of BarBooks, stated.
“BarBooks was founded by barristers, for barristers, and we have an in-depth understanding of our customers’ needs.
“The acquisition adds to our already impressive growth story and positions us strongly for future expansion.”
The legal tech space in Australia has seen interesting moves recently.
This acquisition has come after another major move in the legal tech market, with Property technology company InfoTrack acquiring a New Zealand-based tech start-up as part of an expansion of its offerings into the family law, wills, estates and probate spaces.
Further, heralded as an “Australian first”, a Victorian-based CLC, legal tech start-up and SME firm has collaborated on a bot to give voice to victims of police misconduct.
BarBooks CEO Morag Latta will be leading the combined entity, bringing a wealth of experience from large corporate players within the legal technology industry.
Her appointment, according to BarBooks, signals their commitment to build critical mass within Australia and take on the bigger players in the legal market, both locally and in the international market.
Stephen Foley, managing director of TA Law, commented on the acquisition that BarBooks’ “professionalism, and their focus on best practice and customer service, means that iChambers customers will benefit from the combined experience and expertise of both companies”.
For BarBooks, this M&A has poised them to look further into expanding internationally and putting out products for barristers in overseas jurisdictions.
“Our growth strategy has always been bold,” Pouyan Afshar, barrister and one of the founders of BarBooks, said.
“From a focused niche start-up, we are now ready to take on the big guns of practice management both here in Australia, and internationally in the States, importantly the UK and North America.”
