The legal technology and service provider market has seen no shortage of merger and acquisitions activity over the course of the last year. However, those mergers and acquisitions don't always come as welcome news to corporate legal departments, who worry that either their service levels or longstanding provider relationships will suffer as a result. 

For example, legal departments may be used to receiving a certain level of priority from a provider or regularly interacting with a familiar point person who is attuned to their specific business culture and needs. Those touchstones may become less dependable if that provider is acquired or merged with a larger entity who has other, higher-paying, priorities.

"When mergers do occur, we're paying attention. We want to know where our people and our services are going," said Jack Thompson, assistant director of global operations and legal operations at Sanofi.