Irish based legal sector disruptor, Johnson Hana, raises €3.5 million to fund future growth in Ireland and overseas

Johnson Hana International (Johnson Hana) –  Ireland’s first on-demand lawyer company and managed legal solutions consultancy  – has raised €3.5 million to fund future growth in Ireland and to support expansion to the UK and the US.

Details of Funding Round:

The firm raised €3.5 million through a combination of equity and debt (€3m in equity and €0.5m in debt).  Specialist investment fund BVP led the round, with equity participation from existing shareholders Dan and Linda Kiely (founders of outsourcing business Voxpro), John Ryan (partner with PWC in Hong Kong), leading UK software entrepreneur Finlay Ross and Tom Hickey (former CFO at Tullow Oil & Cartrawler respectively).  The debt was provided by Ulster Bank.

Quote from founder and CEO

Speaking today Dan Fox  said that the firm would use the monies raised to support the growing business in Ireland and expansion to the UK and US markets with a particular focus on growing its team of subject matter experts in litigation, contracts, property and privacy. Further investment will be used to scale its legal technology offerings and forensics unit.  Dan said; “In Ireland we’ve had to create an entirely new market for alternative legal delivery from scratch whereas in markets like the UK and US the sector is already there which will make it easier for us to establish a presence. We’ve seen good momentum through the year to-date and we recently secured framework deals with both Coillte and Ervia.” 

“Thankfully Covid 19  has not been a major disruption to our operations as remote and flexible working was already at the core of how we work.  Also clients are more value conscious than ever and they want to ensure that they are getting a high quality and cost-effective solution.”

Background on Johnson Hana

Johnson Hana was established in 2016 by the then 29 year old barrister Dan Fox.  In 2017 the company raised €1m from investors including Dan and Linda Kiely and Enterprise Ireland.

Johnson Hana provides an alternative to the traditional model of legal solutions bringing lower costs, transparency and greater flexibility to clients.  The firm has a network of over 1,000 qualified lawyers, state of the art legal tech and project managers which it uses to manage large legal, complaints and compliance related data projects for corporates and law firms. 

Johnson Hana also “insources” lawyers on variable length contracts for the legal departments of companies and state agencies. This “insourcing” facility allows legal departments to respond to fluctuating demands for legal work without the need to make permanent expensive appointments. 

Fees charged to clients are up to 50% lower than traditional law firms or large consultancy businesses.  Johnson Hana lawyers enjoy more flexible and family-friendly working conditions than would be possible in a traditional firm.

Clients

Johnson Hana has worked with some of the country’s leading companies including Bank of Ireland,  Ryanair, ESB, Twitter, Airbnb, and Tesco. During 2020, Johnson Hana signed multiyear framework deals with government agencies; Ervia (5 year Legal Process Outsourcing contract) and Coillte.

Issued on behalf of Johnson Hana International by Gordon MRM