OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedLex, the global enterprise legal services provider with over 2,700 employees in 26 countries, and LeClairRyan, an entrepreneurial Am Law 200 law firm with 25 offices nationwide, today announced the launch of ULX Partners, a strategic business platform designed to empower a “constellation” of law firms with market-leading technology, new sources of capital, project and knowledge management, process innovation, and resource management to deliver maximum value to clients and improve law firm economics.
More than 300 professionals have been rebadged from LeClairRyan to join over 130 professionals deployed by UnitedLex to comprise the initial talent pool within ULX Partners, which provides a full range of legal support (litigation, corporate, intellectual property, and other), finance, human resources, IT, pricing, procurement, and knowledge management.
ULX Partners serves as a central source from which member law firms access dedicated tools, resources, and capital essential to addressing sharply increasing client demands around improving cost and pricing flexibility, deepening client relationships and shifting from a primarily transactional mindset, and streamlining law firm operations. ULX Partners derives its technology and professional resources from UnitedLex and each member law firm. Each new law firm that comes into the constellation will be supported by dedicated staff and technology to avoid confidentiality or conflict issues.
“Because of restrictive operating and compensation models, law firms have limited access to capital markets and must focus on short-term profitability, which limits their ability to fuel investments in robust technology, training, and infrastructure that optimize the pricing and delivery of legal services,” said Erik Gustafson, CEO and President of LeClairRyan. “By partnering with an industry leader like UnitedLex, which has a proven track record of delivering significant business impact for global corporations, law firms now have access to the infusion of technology, financial capital, experience, infrastructure, and process innovation on a global scale to drive dramatic change for their clients.”
“LeClairRyan is the first firm in the ULX Partners constellation, which will be revealed as the most disruptive change to the practice and business of law since lawyers began billing their time,” said Dan Reed, CEO of UnitedLex. “Attempts at outsourcing various law firm operations and law firm-owned hybrid staffing models have largely failed to address urgent client needs and do not ensure law firms have the right economic structure and high-impact training to evolve and thrive in a Legal 2.0 environment. With ULX Partners, law firms now have the ability to provide greater value to their clients while operating with significantly improved financial strength.”
About ULX Partners
ULX Partners is a strategic business entity that empowers member law firms with true end-to-end client solution capability, capital to ensure pricing predictability and flexibility, and the ability to improve law firm economics. Founded in 2018 by enterprise legal services provider UnitedLex with Am Law 200 law firm LeClairRyan as the first member firm, the ULX Partners constellation comprises more than 400 professionals in 26 countries who provide a full range of legal, finance, human resources, IT, pricing, procurement, and knowledge management support services to its member law firms. By fusing the business and the practice of law, ULX Partners helps law firms better align the scope, staffing, and pricing of services with clients’ legal and business needs.
About UnitedLex
UnitedLex (www.unitedlex.com) is an award-winning enterprise legal services provider that drives digital transformation throughout the corporate legal ecosystem. UnitedLex was founded in 2006 with a singular mission to improve the performance of leading corporations, law firms, and academic institutions. Since then, more than 2,700 attorneys, engineers, and consultants across four continents have deployed innovative solutions that deliver unparalleled business impact resulting in risk mitigation, efficiency improvements, and cost optimization for clients around the world.
About LeClairRyan
As a trusted advisor, LeClairRyan (www.leclairryan.com) provides business counsel and client representation in corporate law, litigation, and intellectual property. In this role, the firm applies its knowledge, insight and skill to help clients achieve their business objectives while managing and minimizing their legal risks, difficulties and expenses. With 25 national offices located in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C., the firm has approximately 325 attorneys representing a wide variety of clients throughout the nation.
