Litera’s
acquisition
strategy
feels
a
bit
like
a
good
Thanksgiving
plate
—
a
variety
of
different
components
piled
together
to
create
one
satisfying
feast.
Just
in
time
for
the
holiday,
the
company
announced
this
morning
that
it’s
adding
a
helping
of
Office
&
Dragons,
a
UK-headquartered
document
automation
company.
The
grand
plan
at
Litera
has
been
clear
for
a
while:
own
the
entire
legal
workflow.
From
acquiring
Kira
Systems
to
streamline
contract
review,
to
BigSquare
for
financial
and
business
intelligence,
the
company
has
steadily
built
a
one-stop
shop
for
law
firms.
Office
&
Dragons
joins
a
long
list
of
providers
brought
under
the
Litera
roof
—
and
more
importantly
brought
into
its
vision
of
the
attorney
workflow.
At
this
rate,
I
should
dust
off
my
phony
“generative
AI-enabled,
quantum-secured
data
compliance
solution”
startup
to
see
if
Litera
might
accidentally
buy
it
just
to
cover
every
possible
base
for
their
clients.
Office
&
Dragons
promises
up
to
97%
time
savings
serving
diverse
practice
areas
(Private
Equity,
Litigation,
Real
Estate
—
you
name
it).
Always
knew
Tom
Bombadil
was
up
to
something.
Office
&
Dragons
streamlines
document
intensive
work,
from
making
mass
edits
to
entire
suites
of
diverse
documents
with
one
click
to
quickly
spinning
out
suites
of
documents
for
a
particular
deal
type
with
forms,
templates,
precedents,
or
even
highly
negotiated,
bespoke
agreements.
The
product
also
provides
mass
redlining
and
collaborative
editing
capabilities.
There’s
a
delicate
balance
in
the
legal
tech
space
between
providing
a
product
that
will
save
lawyers
time
and
providing
a
product
that
will
rob
lawyers
of
billable
hours.
But
the
work
targeted
by
Office
&
Dragons
frees
up
that
magical
breed
of
wasted
time
that
both
the
client
doesn’t
want
to
pay
for
and
the
lawyer
doesn’t
even
particularly
want
to
bill.
That’s
the
sweet
spot
for
selling
tech
to
an
attorney.
Founder
and
CEO
Samuel
Smolkin
is
optimistic
about
the
move,
citing
the
growth
opportunities
afforded
by
Litera’s
resources.
As
he
put
it,
“With
integrations
spanning
Compare,
Kira,
Transact,
and
beyond,
we
aim
to
make
Office
&
Dragons
an
essential
part
of
every
lawyer’s
toolkit—helping
them
save
hours
of
repetitive
work,
focus
on
higher-value
tasks,
and
improve
their
quality
of
life.”
Litera
CEO
Avaneesh
Marwaha
captured
this
vision
succinctly,
noting
that
the
acquisition
reflects
Litera’s
“ongoing
commitment
to
expand
our
portfolio
with
mission-critical
tools
that
integrate
with
native
attorney
workflows.”
You
might
say
with
this
deal,
Litera
has
rolled
a
natural
20!
Ugh.
No,
you
wouldn’t
be
that
nerdy.
Let’s
just
say
they’ve
truly
won
the
Game
of
Thrones
this
time.
By
George,
that’s
arguably
worse.
Wait,
the
“George”
in
that
expression
is
also
a
dragon
reference!
Anyway,
this
deal
will
certainly
help
Litera
tip
the
scales
for
its
customers.
Oh,
I
give
up.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
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Executive
Search.