Epiq, a tech-enabled legal and business services provider based in New York, has acquired Canadian alternative legal service provider Simplex Services for an undisclosed amount. 

The move builds on the two firm’s existing relationship, which dates back to 2019, and will see Simplex and its affiliated law firm Simplex Legal retain its brand identity as Epiq Simplex, adding the firm’s 25-strong team of legal professionals to Epiq’s network. 

Founded in 2012 by two former General Electric executives, Simplex provides flexible legal talent and tech-enabled legal services to corporate clients throughout Canada. The company, which began in Calgary and Montreal, has grown its physical presence coast-to-coast with additional offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. 

One of the early standouts in the Canadian ALSP market, Simplex provides interim support for in-house teams and corporations, as well as tech consulting and tech-enabled legal services for high-volume legal mandates such as financing and corporate maintenance filings. 

Martine Boucher, managing partner and co-founder of Simplex, said: “We’re targeting the same clients but bring different solutions to the table. The combination felt like a natural progression of our existing relationship and will serve to further integrate our flexible resourcing platform with Epiq’s existing operation in Canada to bring a broader range of tech-enabled legal solutions that our clients are looking for.” 

New York-based Epiq said the acquisition will broaden the scale of its flexible talent offering and build on the traction created by the launch of Epiq Counsel, a flexible resourcing offering launched by Epiq in the US in a bid to carve out a space in the increasingly crowded ALSP market. Tom Finke, Epiq’s managing director of legal transformation services, joined Epiq last December from ALSP giant Axiom to spearhead the launch. 

The company boosted its advisory business last year when it purchased legal operations consultancy Hyperion Global Partners to complement its legal document processing, records management, ediscovery and information governance technology and services.

“Epiq has experienced tremendous growth in Canada over the last few years,” Finke said. “Based in part on the launch of Epiq Counsel in the US this year, we felt that Epiq’s Canada clients and US clients with operations in Canada would be very interested in utilising Simplex’s offerings.”

As it looks to expand its global reach, Finke said the the UK would be a "natural place" to expand Epiq Counsel as the UK ALSP market continues to grow amid high demand for low-cost efficient legal services.

A number of UK law firms have expanded their New Law offerings of late, including UK top 15 firm Ashurst, which launched a programme in September to optimise career development opportunities for professionals within its New Law division, Ashurst Advance.

And last March, Linklaters established a 400-strong legal operations function last March to streamline its New Law service offering, which includes legal project management, innovation, knowledge and learning and pricing. 

Bucking the trend, UK-listed firm DWF axed its flexible resourcing arm, DWF Resource, in July as part of a cost-cutting programme designed to save £15m.