Corrected on 29 September: Nir Golan joined as a director of consulting following the departure of Jack Diggle but does not take over his role.
Aside from Elevate’s announcement last week that it is partnering with Lex Mundi, public statements have been few and far between from the legal services company despite a number of senior departures and arrivals, not least the hire of Nir Golan as director of consulting last week. Golan’s arrival follows the departure of Elevate’s VP of legal consulting Jack Diggle, who joins Deloitte as part of a three-strong hire from Elevate.
Why the silence? After all Elevate isn’t exactly shy when it comes to its media outreach: when Stephen Allen joined in June, it notoriously (and with all the hallmarks of Allen himself) sent out a press release headed: “Stephen Allen Joins Elevate as Vice President of Enterprise Solutions and Get Sh*t done.”
The reason is understood to be that Elevate is entering an extended informal quiet period ahead of its IPO, after founder, chairman and CEO Liam Brown was quoted in Law360 in September saying the IPO had been planned for the third quarter of 2021 but is being pushed back to 2022.
A quiet period is a SEC-mandated embargo on self-promotion and starts from the moment a company files a registration statement until 40 days after stocks begin trading. Brown speaking directly about the IPO can be expected to trigger a more cautious approach to Elevate’s media outreach, despite 2022 being a long way off.
Golan was previously general counsel at Attenti and is a well-known voice when it comes to improving operational efficiency, so the move to Elevate makes sense on many levels.
He will be working with Allen in building up Elevate’s consulting capability: it will competing with Deloitte, which in addition to hiring Diggle, brought in Elevate contract management specialist Craig Conte and legal management consultant Tom Birdseye.
Elevate on Thursday (17 September) announced that independent lawyer network Lex Mundi has appointed Elevate in a consultative role: a big win that is intended to add value for Lex Mundi members.
“Because Elevate works with law departments and law firms, we have a deep understanding of both the rapidly emerging needs of in-house counsel and also of law firm strategies to meet those new needs, that really work,” said Brown, adding: “We help firms improve technology, people, and processes, to satisfy their clients’ growing desire for new delivery models and innovative approaches.”
It will be interesting to see what other announcements are made, particularly given that Elevate is in talks over further acquisitions.