Today, legal operations service provider Legility acquired e-discovery solution provider Inventus. The two companies said the acquisition is an effort to expand e-discovery into regulatory compliance, and other areas clients can benefit.

Financial details of the merger weren't disclosed, but the deal adds international offices to Legility's footprint, as well as Inventus's multiple technology offerings. These include its fixed-price e-discovery platform Zenith that was released in September and a suite of other discovery solutions.

To be sure Legility, is no stranger to acquiring e-discovery providers. Indeed, the company formerly known as Counsel on Call acquired e-discovery provider iControlESI in August 2019 and DSicovery in September 2017. Currently, Legility offerings include e-discovery tool Legility Envize, data management and data collection tech and forensic technicians and lawyers to assist clients' long- and short-term legal needs.

The Inventus acquisition deal was sparked after a summer 2019 meeting between Inventus CEO Paul Mankoo and Legility CEO Barry Dark to discuss the trajectory of the legal tech market, and of their individual companies. Dark noted they both had heard a similar demand from customers: Corporate and law firm clients want to bring the efficiency and accuracy of e-discovery to compliance and non-litigation legal functions.

"One of the things we are seeing and continuing to see is that clients are looking for trusted relationships with companies that have the pedigrees and experience and know-how on how to implement advancing technology and are of a size and scale and credibility to keep clients' data safe," Mankoo said. "They are increasingly looking for those types of suppliers to work in partnership with."

Mankoo and Dark said Legility didn't acquire Inventus to solely upgrade its e-discovery abilities. Instead, the acquisition was a bid to pair Legility's fleet of attorneys and tech talent to Inventus's data analysis capabilities.

"[This is] not just changing e-discovery, but this is a law company of a very decent global size," Mankoo said of the newly merged company.

Dark noted this new acquisition allows Legility to assist clients by working on the client's legal team, taking outsourcing projects or helping them stay compliant with regulations, such as the newly implemented California Consumer Privacy Act. "The thing about regulations is there is always a new one, so clients have an ongoing need for assistance," Dark noted.

While Dark and Mankoo said Inventus and Legility software will be enhanced by the newly merged companies' access to the other's tech, clients won't see an immediate name change. Noting Legility's own name change in 2018, Dark said Inventus would gradually migrate and rebrand as a Legility product.