The Swedish Bar Association signs its first framework agreement for a practice management system – with Arkivia

Arkivia is also raising SEK 40 million in a fully subscribed round led by node.vc, with participation from new and existing shareholders.

The Swedish Bar Association signed its first framework agreement with a practice management system provider, choosing Arkivia. From 1 October, law firms where members of the Bar Association practise can subscribe to Arkivia on member terms. More than 170 law firms have started using the system since the beginning of the year. The SEK 40 million share issue is fully subscribed, and the capital will be used to make Arkivia the market leader in its segment, in Sweden and across the rest of Europe.

The Bar Association's first agreement for the firm's core system

This summer, the Swedish Bar Association signed framework agreements with four providers of AI services for legal analysis and research. The agreement with Arkivia is the first to cover a legal practice management system.

– Until now, our framework agreements have applied to AI services for analysis and legal research. Much of a firm's day-to-day work also takes place in practice management, with clients, deadlines, and time recording. With this agreement, we want to make it easier for our members to modernise that as well, says Mia Edwall Insulander, Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association.

The AI resides within the matter

In recent years, venture capital in legal tech has gone to AI tools for research and writing. Legora and Harvey have together raised more than a billion dollars to help lawyers search legal sources and write drafts. Arkivia offers the same capabilities: legal research and drafts of contracts and court submissions, with the source shown for every statement. The difference is that it all happens in the same system the firm runs its matters in. When the lawyer starts writing, the system already knows the matter, the parties and the documents.

– Most AI tools sit apart from the firm’s core system, where the client register and the actual ‘operating system’ live. The lawyer copies in the material, pastes the answer back and then logs the time in another program. With us, the AI already knows which matter you’re working on, who the parties are and what’s in the file,” says William Ringström, CEO and co-founder of Arkivia.

For its customers, Arkivia often replaces three or four systems at once: matter management, time and billing, Word templates and standalone AI tools.

– Arkivia is built around the way many lawyers actually work. When legal research and case management are in the same system, much of the duplicated work disappears, and the time that is freed up benefits the clients. The fact that the Swedish Bar Association has signed a framework agreement with Arkivia is well-deserved recognition, says Niclas Elison, Managing Partner at Advokatfirman Glimstedt Göteborg.

Former Country Manager for Kleos joins Arkivia

In August, Marcus Lindahl joined Arkivia as Head of Business Development. He was previously Country Manager Sweden at Wolters Kluwer Legal, responsible for Kleos, formerly one of the largest legal practice management systems on the Swedish market.

– In August, Marcus Lindahl joined Arkivia as Head of Business Development. He was previously Country Manager Sweden at Wolters Kluwer Legal, responsible for Kleos, formerly one of the largest legal practice management systems on the Swedish market.

New and existing shareholders invest

The round is led by node.vc, a Nordic venture capital fund founded by entrepreneurs from companies including Tobii, allabolag.se, Paradox Interactive and Dynavox Group. Existing shareholders are continuing to invest in the round.

– AI is already changing how law firms work, but the value is created where the work actually happens: in the case file. Arkivia is one of the few companies that has built both the AI capabilities and the firm’s core system, and the fact that more than 170 firms have switched since the beginning of the year shows that the market is ready. We see a team that can take that position across Europe,” says Henrik Tellving, Partner at node.vc.

– Law firms across Europe are stuck with the same old systems as Swedish firms. We want to be the only system they need,” says William Ringström.

About Arkivia

Arkivia is a practice management system for legal professionals. It brings together client records, matters, deadlines, time tracking, billing, client communication and AI support for legal research and document drafting in a single environment. More than 170 law firms have started using Arkivia since the beginning of the year. Arkivia was founded by William Ringström, Filip Eriksson and Olle Wallberg and is headquartered in Stockholm. For more information, visit arkivia.se.

Contact

William Ringström, CEO and co-founder
william@arkivia.se