Litera

Litera is a legal technology company that provides a suite of software solutions designed to streamline workflows for law firms and corporate legal departments. The company was founded in 2001 by Deepak Massand, a seasoned executive with a background in the pharmaceutical industry at companies like Johnson & Johnson. Massand's experience with the inefficiencies in document management he observed while dealing with outside counsel inspired him to create Litera. The company's initial focus was on document lifecycle management, offering patented technologies for document creation, comparison, and cleansing.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Litera has grown significantly through a strategy of organic development and numerous strategic acquisitions. This acquisition strategy has been central to its expansion, bringing numerous best-of-breed products under one umbrella to create a unified user experience. Key acquisitions have included Workshare and DocsCorp to consolidate its document comparison offerings into Litera Compare, Foundation Software Group to build out its Firm Intelligence unit, and Kira Systems to integrate AI-powered contract review. This has expanded Litera's portfolio to cover the entire legal workflow, from drafting and transaction management to litigation support and business development.

The company's business model is centered on providing this integrated platform to legal professionals, helping them manage complex matters and improve efficiency. Litera serves a wide range of clients, from solo practitioners to 99% of the Am Law 100 firms, as well as corporate legal teams. Its product ecosystem addresses several key areas. Litera Draft is a single toolbar for creating, checking, and comparing documents. The Firm Intelligence platform helps firms leverage their data on clients, matters, and people for strategic planning and business development. The company has also heavily invested in AI, integrating generative AI capabilities across its products to assist with tasks like contract analysis, knowledge management, and identifying market trends from a firm's own data. Avaneesh Marwaha, a former lawyer and entrepreneur, has been a key figure in Litera's recent growth, serving as CEO from 2016 to 2022 and returning to the role in late 2024 to lead its next phase of AI-driven innovation.

Keywords: legal technology, document management, workflow software, legal AI, contract review, M&A due diligence, legal drafting, firm intelligence, transaction management, knowledge management, risk management, compliance, document comparison, metadata cleaning, business development for law firms, legal operations, e-discovery, litigation support, practice management, enterprise legal management