Axiom head of global sales David Pierce.

Flexible legal staffing provider Axiom on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Bliss Lawyers, expanding the company's workforce to approximately 2,400 attorneys on the heels of a recent investment from private equity firm Permira.

The purchase of Bliss Lawyers⁠—founded in 2011 by managing directors Garry Berger, Debbie Epstein Henry and Suzie Scanlon Rabinowitz⁠—will immediately add 60 attorneys to the Axiom network. But Axiom head of global sales David Pierce said that figure is out of a much larger universe of Bliss attorneys who have yet to pass through the Axiom vetting process.

"It's a really strong strategic cultural fit. They believe what we believe. They have the same commitment to changing the way legal teams work and the same commitment to improving the experience for lawyers," he said. "We are on a mission to re-imagine legal work for the client and the lawyer, and this is going to help us accelerate that."

Axiom did not divulge the terms of the transaction. But Pierce did note that Permira, which made a "significant" investment in the company in September to become Axiom's majority owner, has substantial experience with acquisitions. The investment from the European private equity firm came upon the cancellation of a planned initial public offering.

"They offer a ton of value and support," Pierce said of Permira.

According to Bliss co-founder Debbie Epstein Henry, Axiom approached her company—which is built on a virtual platform of lawyers distributed around the country—at a moment when she and her partners were looking for an opportunity to grow. Bliss started providing temporary lawyers to corporate legal departments in 2011 and expanded to law firms in 2014.

"I've admired Axiom from afar since their inception," said Henry, who has been writing and speaking about nontraditional legal careers for the last two decades. "We got to a certain inflexible point in our business and realized we wanted to infuse capital and scale to a new level, or—when Axiom was interested in us—we felt it was an exciting union to join the scale they already have in place."

Bliss was advised in the transaction by JEGI, the tech and media focused mid-market investment bank that recently added legal industry veteran Scott Mozarsky. Henry and her two co-founders will remain with Axiom as executive consultants.

She noted that in the two decades she's been paying close attention to different pathways for lawyers, she's noticed a demographic shift in those who are open to alternative arrangements. It's no longer just women who have sought a less linear path to make room for child-rearing,

"They were the canaries in the coal mine," she said.

Now, they're joined by baby boomers who are slowly phasing into retirement, millennials looking to make room for different work opportunities, travel and have greater engagement with their families, and trailing spouses who need flexibility when moving into new regions.

"It's something that is now appealing not just to lawyers who are in transition, but people who are trying to assume control of their careers and lives in a much more sophisticated way," Henry said.

Prior to the Permira investment, Axiom spun off its data analytics arm Knowable and its legal solutions platform Axiom Managed Solution, which recently rebranded as Factor.

But the latest news is a sign that the company intends to keep building its core business.

"We're a growth company," Pierce said.

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