LexisNexis has acquired Silicon Valley-based contract lifecycle management software provider Parley Pro to expand its CounselLink enterprise legal management platform business.

The Parley Pro deal will enable CounselLink users to manage their contracts in real-time, from drafting and negotiating through to signing, all within one platform, according to LexisNexis.

Parley Pro’s CLM software gives in-house legal teams an overview of all contracts in progress, using AI to power actionable analytics to help drive better business decisions. Automated processes also help to reduce contracting time by up to 40%, Parley Pro said.

Parley Pro has raised a total of $6.3m in funding over four rounds since it was founded in 2015, according to Crunchbase. In 2019 it appointed veteran legaltech lawyer and diversity advocate Olga Mack as its CEO.

Mack and her leadership team will remain in place and work alongside the CounselLink and broader LexisNexis legal and professional teams.

Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of LexisNexis UK and North America, said: “Parley Pro’s CLM capabilities provide the critical third pillar – in addition to legal spend and matter management—to strengthen our already robust CounselLink platform.”


Olga Mack, CEO of Parley Pro, said: “By seamlessly integrating Parley Pro’s best-in-class contract automation and workflow tools with CounselLink’s market-leading features, innovation and capabilities, customers will benefit from the industry’s all-in-one, premier legal operations platform.”

The deal comes as corporate legal departments face increased workload and bandwidth challenges, with in-house teams expected to handle more tasks with fewer internal resources. Some 60% of chief legal officers are anticipating an increase in work volume due solely to privacy and regulatory enforcement, according to a recent Association of Corporate Counsel survey. 

Against that backdrop, in-house teams are expected to increase adoption of legal service request and intake technologies over the next two years, second only to AI-related tech, the ACC survey found.

Aaron Pierce, vice president of product management for CounselLink, said: “Now more than ever, corporate legal departments need advanced work intake tools and automation capabilities to manage the huge influx in demand for their services stemming from increased legal and regulatory obligations, pandemic-related issues and requests to support more non-legal business functions."

LexisNexis’s purchase of Parley Pro is the latest M&A deal in the legaltech space this year. In March, New York-based legal service provider Epiq acquired legal management consultancy Fireman & Co, while in February, Cincinnati-based legaltech firm SurePoint acquired customer relationship management developer Cole Valley Software.