Osler and Gowling WLG among legal counsel in this deal
Clio has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire legal intelligence leader vLex in a landmark transaction valued at US$1 billion, to be paid through a combination of cash and stock. The deal marks one of the most significant acquisitions in Clio’s history and signals a major shift in the legal technology sector, integrating legal operations and advanced AI research tools into a unified global platform.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Gowling WLG serve as Clio's legal counsel, with Goldman Sachs as the exclusive financial advisor.
A&O Shearman and Uría Menéndez serve as vLex's legal counsel, and J.P. Morgan is its exclusive financial advisor.
The acquisition combines Clio’s widely adopted legal practice management ecosystem, used by over 200,000 legal professionals worldwide, with vLex’s expansive global legal research database and its proprietary AI assistant, Vincent. The integration will create a new category of legal technology that merges the business and practice of law under a single, intelligent system.
Founded in Vancouver, Clio has become a leader in legal practice management. In recent years, the company has steadily expanded upmarket and globally. The acquisition of vLex furthers that trajectory, providing Clio with legal data coverage across 100+ countries and enhancing its ability to serve both small practices and enterprise legal teams, the company said.
vLex, headquartered in Barcelona and with a significant US presence, offers what is described as the world’s most comprehensive legal library. Its AI assistant, Vincent, has garnered widespread adoption for its sophisticated cross-jurisdictional legal reasoning and drafting support. The platform supports multimodal legal analysis, audio and video legal theory testing, and customizable workflows for firms and courts.
"This is a watershed moment for Clio and the broader legal profession," Clio CEO and founder Jack Newton said in a press release. "For 17 years, we've built the foundational platform that enables law firms to operate at their highest potential. With vLex, we're building on that foundation with technology that understands the substance of the law. By bringing together the business and practice of law in a unified platform, we're revolutionizing every aspect of legal work. This sets the stage for a future powered by agentic AI, and marks the establishment of a new industry category – one that will empower legal professionals to serve clients with unprecedented insight and precision."
"This signals the onset of a transformative era in the legal industry, unlike anything we've seen before," said Lluís Faus, CEO and co-founder of vLex. "Together with Clio, we have a bold vision for the future that empowers legal professionals to go beyond traditional research and operational silos, harnessing deeper intelligence and broader impact. With the most comprehensive global legal library and firm insights, Clio and vLex are uniquely positioned to reshape the mechanics of legal work and redefine the trajectory of the profession."
The deal is expected to close later in 2025, pending customary approvals.
