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LOD to be acquired by Consilio
Global flexible resourcing business LOD (Lawyers on Demand) and its tech subsidiary SYKE are set to be snapped up by competitor Consilio, which will broaden the latter’s reach and bolster its flexible talent and advisory capabilities.
Jerome Doraisamy
Consilio, a US-headquartered legal technology solutions and enterprise legal services business, is intent on acquiring LOD, a “pioneer in flexible legal talent”.
The acquisition will, Consilio noted in a statement, amplify its global presence and extend its enterprise legal services business to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia, while also expanding its current operations in the United Kingdom.
The statement also noted that – following completion of the deal – Bowmark Capital, a UK-based private equity firm, will realise its five-year investment in LOD and SYKE. Those years have, the statement said, been “defined by considerable growth”.
LOD was founded back in 2007 and, since then, has amassed over 4,500 legal practitioners who offer on-demand services for clients’ needs across 25 different countries.
The acquisition follows LOD’s acquisition of AdventBalance back in October 2016. More recently, LOD launched SYKE in Australia in November 2021, and in September 2022, LOD and SYKE expanded into the US.
According to Consilio chief executive Andy Macdonald, the flexible talent market “remains fragmented”, and the provider “continue[s] to explore opportunities to create impactful solutions for legal teams as they face an unprecedented amount of talent concerns, as a result of historically high attrition rates, budgetary freezes, and legal industry salary increases out of reach for many corporations”.
“This acquisition brings LOD’s and SYKE’s deep expertise in flexible legal talent and legal technology consulting onboard while unlocking greater scale and capabilities for our clients,” he proclaimed.
LOD founder Simon Harper reflected that Consilio has a “great story”, in that it “has a history of bringing very strategic acquisitions into its fold to become the global leader in legal consulting and services, as well as the world’s largest eDiscovery provider”.
“We’re excited about our shared culture and the vision for what we can offer together to global legal teams,” he noted.
“I’ve watched the growth of Consilio’s enterprise legal services business over recent years and look forward to combining forces to reflect client needs and to establish one of the largest legal flexible talent and advisory companies in the space.”
Consilio senior vice-president of enterprise legal services Robb Hern added: “As we have been strategically ramping up our global enterprise legal services offerings, our clients are asking us to serve them on a global basis more and more every day.”
“The similarities between our companies in terms of culture, commitment to employee experience and client experience, and operational excellence have been remarkable.
“Consilio clients will immediately benefit from the in-market expertise LOD and SYKE can offer combined with our existing global enterprise offerings.”
Alvarez & Marsal has acted as Consilio’s financial and tax due diligence adviser on the deal, while Jones Day served as legal adviser and William Blair & Company as financial adviser. Rothschild served as financial adviser for LOD, and Stephenson Harwood provided legal advice to LOD and SYKE.
Late last year, LOD head of business operations Anita Thomspon spoke to Lawyers Weekly about whether consulting is now the “third career path for lawyers”.
Two months ago, LOD head of market insights Mark Dodd and senior legal counsel Helena Kolenbet appeared on The Corporate Counsel Show to discuss how best law departments can manage cost-cutting environments.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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