There has been much talk in the past year that the Big Four were sniffing around the alternative legal services provider (ALSP) market looking for an acquisition, and many legal market watchers have predicted at least one Big Four-led acquisition into the ALSP space in 2018.

That wait is now over, after EY announced the acquisition of Riverview Law, the fixed fee-focused ALSP launched in 2012 with the backing of DLA Piper.