When
Avaneesh
Marwaha
stepped
down
as
CEO
of
legal
tech
company Litera
in
2022,
becoming
chairman
of
the
company’s
board
of
directors,
it
was
a
surprise
to
many
in
the
legal
technology
community.
Now
Marwaha
and
Litera
have
another
surprise:
He
has
returned
as
CEO
“to
lead
the
company
through
the
next
chapter
of
integration
and
innovation,”
the
company
said
today.
The
woman
who
had
succeeded
him
as
CEO,
Sheryl
Hoskins,
a
veteran
technology
executive,
will
continue
to
advise
the
Litera
board
through
the
end
of
2024,
the
company
said.
Related
LawNext
episodes:
I
asked
a
company
spokesperson
if
Hoskin’s
departure
was
her
decision
or
the
board’s.
He
replied:
“Sheryl,
the
board
and
Avaneesh
have
been
working
very
closely
together
for
the
past
two
years
to
achieve
operational
excellence
and
build
out
Litera’s
leadership
team.
This
was
a
decision
based
on
market
dynamics
and
what
we
believe
is
best
for
our
customers.
Sheryl
and
Avaneesh
will
continue
to
do
so
as
she
transitions
out
of
Litera.”
Redefining
the
Market
During
his
nearly
six
years
as
Litera
CEO,
from
2016
to
2022,
Marwaha
brought
about
almost
a
complete
transformation
of
the
company,
including
14
acquisitions
in
just
his
last
four
years
that
expanded
the
company
from
an
exclusive
focus
on
document
productivity
tools
to
a
much
broader
range
of
products
spanning
transaction
management,
due
diligence,
litigation,
and
firm
intelligence.
During
his
tenure,
the
company
grew
global
users
by
over
1,500%,
annual
revenue
by
1,200%,
and
headcount
from
85
employees
to
over
850
worldwide.
In
the
announcement
released
today,
the
company
said:
“His
industry
expertise
and
passion
for
driving
best-in-class
customer
experience
will
be
key
assets
in
Litera’s
next
chapter
of
growth
as
the
company
focuses
on
transforming
the
legal
experience.”
The
announcement
said
that
he
will
focus
on
optimizing
legal
workflows
with
enterprise-grade
solutions,
further
integrating
Gen
AI
into
Litera’s
product
ecosystem,
accelerating
user
adoption,
and
securing
a
foundation
of
innovation.
The
announcement
credited
outgoing
CEO
Hoskins
for
having
brought
a
focus
on
operational
excellence,
building
out
the
organization’s
leadership
team,
and
streamlining
Litera’s
processes,
product
portfolio
and
customer
support.
“I’m
proud
of
the
achievements
we’ve
accomplished
in
the
last
two
years
at
Litera,
putting
the
company
in
a
position
to
adapt
to
dynamic
shifts
in
the
legal
tech
market,”
Hoskins
said.
In
an
interview
I
conducted
with
Marwaha
when
he
moved
out
of
the
CEO
role,
he
said
that
he
believed
that
Litera,
under
his
leadership,
had
redefined
the
legal
tech
market
and
its
potential
–
both
for
investors
looking
to
get
into
the
market
and
for
startups
looking
to
launch
products.
“We’ve
built
a
lot
of
trust
in
the
marketplace
with
our
approach,
and
we’ve
given
a
lot
of
opportunities
to
startups
that
create
businesses
because
they
know
there
can
be
a
good
outcome
for
them,”
he
said.
“I
think
we’ve
taken
an
industry
that
may
not
have
always
been
looked
at
by
investors
as
a
place
that’s
investible,
and
I
think
we’ve
changed
that
and
shown
that,
look,
there’s
real
stuff
here.
The
legal
market’s
big
enough
and
it’s
exciting
and
firms
and
lawyers
are
looking
for
innovation
and
new
ways
of
doing
work.”