CaseLines

Cavendish Corporate Finance, the UK’s leading sell-side mid-market M&A firm, has advised on the sale of fast-growing legal SaaS firm CaseLines to Thomson Reuters, as the business intelligence and information firm looks to expand its cloud based software offering within the legal sector.

CaseLines offers a platform that provides a single, secure home in which to manage all types of legal evidence. The acquisition comes at a time when CaseLines has seen its services attract high demand due to COVID where courts on a global basis are being forced to conduct trials on a remote basis. CaseLines digitizes court processes by essentially eliminating paper and creating digital court files managed on one common platform. It empowers anyone with a phone, or an internet connected device, no matter where they are, to maintain workflows in the justice system, anytime and anywhere.

Though CaseLines is already operational in 25 countries, and to date has conducted over 400,000 trials through the platform, Thomson Reuters will look to further expand the footprint of the company through leveraging its own global reach.

CaseLines was founded by Paul Sachs who recognised there was a gap in the market for a comprehensive system that could be seamlessly integrated into court systems and used by police, prosecutors, lawyers and judges before and during trials. It has remained a market leader in its field and is trusted by, among others, the UK Ministry of Justice and UK Supreme Court.

CaseLines has, through easier integration for evidence review and court presentation, reduced the time taken to conduct trials in certain English courts by around 50%; crucial in a time with increased backlogs as a result of the pandemic. In addition to enabling virtual hearings through videos and multimedia displays, the firm has also already saved one billion pieces of paper to date, as well as reducing staff costs, highlighting the transformative nature of digital evidence.

Cavendish Corporate Finance noted that Thomson Reuters had been looking to expand its extensive legal platform offering, and had already invested to that effect with the acquisition of cloud-based computing service HighQ. CaseLines, which expanded into Thomson Reuters’ native Canada in 2019, represents an excellent opportunity to deliver on this aim.

Global digital evidence is emerging as an in-demand resource from the legal sector. In 2018, the market was projected to be $3.5 billion, set to reach $8.4 billion by 2024, though the ramifications surrounding remote trials due to COVID is expected to accelerate this growth. Steady growth is being delivered by a globally rising allocation by courts on tech-based innovations, illustrated by the United States Judiciary, which in 2020 allocated close to 10% of its entire budget on IT.

The Cavendish Corporate Finance team was led by Technology Sector Partner John Farrugia.

John Farrugia, Partner at Cavendish Corporate Finance, commented:

“We are delighted to have advised CaseLines on its sale to Thomson Reuters, enabling a high growth firm with a transformational product to partner with Thomson Reuters to access its world-class resources and global reach. The deal represents an opportunity to help CaseLines accelerate its growth internationally, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, where courts are looking to expedite their transition to the digital era.”

Ben Goldring, Director at Cavendish Corporate Finance, commented:

“It quickly became apparent to us that Paul, Jon and the team had created something special with CaseLines and its best-in-class evidence delivery platform. It has been a pleasure working with the team to articulate the M&A value proposition and conclude this exciting transaction (which was done start-to-finish while working remotely) with Thomson Reuters.”

Paul Sachs, Founder, CaseLines, commented:

“In Thomson Reuters we found a strategic buyer that shares our commitment to the rule of law. We have a proven record of enabling the courts’ digital transformation in the UK. We are optimistic that with Thomson Reuters global footprint we will be able to help courts around the world to continue to operate effectively and efficiently into the future.”