Axiom, one of the global leader in high-caliber, on-demand legal talent, announced it has acquired Plexus Engage, a subsidiary of Australian headquartered legal technology company Plexus. Plexus Engage offers highly experienced, flexible lawyers for in-house legal teams to support projects or augment capacity. This acquisition further advances Axiom’s long-term M&A and geographic expansion plans, providing an entry into Australia and enhancing Axiom’s footprint in the APAC region, while allowing Plexus to focus on scaling its award-winning legal operating system for in-house counsel. Plexus Engage General Manager, Richard Kohinga, will continue to lead the organization as a wholly owned subsidiary of Axiom, operating as Axiom Global Australia. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
Axiom currently serves a range of clients including mid-market innovators to over half of the Fortune 500 and performs 3,000+ engagements annually. This acquisition will expand Axiom’s engagements and add to its existing bench of 6,900+ lawyers, by extending Axiom’s reach to the growing number of highly skilled lawyers in the region who are embracing a more flexible career path. With an estimated $AU27B spent on legal services in Australia, annually, the transaction will position Axiom to drive transformation for clients and lawyers alike in yet another large legal marketplace.
“Plexus Engage provides Axiom with an experienced team with a proven track record of driving both growth and profitability in the Australian market,” said David McVeigh, Chief Executive Officer of Axiom. “Our common goal is to provide legal departments with the flexibility and quality they need to drive efficiency and innovation – a priority in these challenging economic times. This acquisition is a natural extension of our current business in the APAC region, and we plan to invest heavily in this business to drive growth in Australia and adjacent geographic markets.”
Plexus Engage has over 80 active and bench lawyers who serve a diverse portfolio of clients in the software, transportation, insurance, business services, hospitality, utilities, and retail industries, as well as government entities and education.
Plexus CEO, Andrew Mellett, said of the deal, “We are delighted to cement our almost decade long relationship with Axiom. They have always been generous partners to us, and they are, unquestionably, the global leaders in this category. This acquisition will provide Engage’s clients and lawyers access to Axiom’s unparalleled global platform while allowing Plexus to focus on helping in-house lawyers do more-for-less and have a greater impact through our technology”.
The acquisition allows Axiom to offer its global clients local legal services in Australia, as well as offer Australia-headquartered clients access to Axiom services in North America, Europe, and Asia. Axiom provides its global clients with lawyers skilled in all major practice areas including data privacy, intellectual property, commercial and contract law, employment, real estate, finance, litigation, M&A, and regulatory and compliance.
“We have a growing bench of top-tier lawyers and an impressive pipeline of opportunities for them to support the changing needs of legal teams,” said Kohinga, Plexus Engage General Manager (now Axiom Global Australia General Manager). “When clients have a spike in workload or wish to optimize external legal spend, we can provide a vastly better value proposition than a traditional law firm. Axiom will provide us the resources, technology, and expertise to further enhance the value we deliver to clients while providing unparalleled career opportunities for our lawyers.”
Plexus provides legal automation, contract management, matter management, and marketing compliance technology on an integrated modular platform to over 300 of the world’s most progressive legal functions. In 2019 Gartner profiled the business as a best practice for in-house teams, and the Financial Times named the firm one of the top 10 businesses reshaping professional services around the world.
As part of the ongoing relationship, Axiom will adopt Plexus’s technology to further accelerate the performance of Axiom’s global business.
