Who really owns your software? How to check before you sign

What we found

We traced more than 140 products used by UK law firms through Companies House records, owners' announcements and trade press. A few patterns stand out.

• Firms stay put; their suppliers' owners do not. Legal IT Insider's UK Top 200 data records the accounts and practice management system of 203 of the largest UK firms in 2025. Between 2022 and 2025, only 8 of them changed system: around 1 in 20. Over the same period, 75 of them (37%) saw the company that owns their system change hands. The firms did not choose their new supplier's owner, but that owner now sets the price, the roadmap and the product's future.
• Most systems now sit inside larger groups. Of the 24 practice management systems for small and mid-sized firms that we mapped, 20 belong to a group, a private equity owner, a listed company or venture investors.
• A few owners hold most of the choice. Four owners account for 17 of those 24 products.
• The systems of ten years ago have nearly all changed hands. Of 22 systems that were widely used a decade or more ago, 20 now sit with a group or investor. Many have been bought two or three times, and several owners are steering customers towards a newer product.
• Groups now span the whole matter. Several owners have products at every stage: ID and AML checks, searches, onboarding, practice management and forms. Two products on your shortlist can belong to the same group.
• The name on the screen is not always the supplier. Source of funds checks, bank account checks and certified identity checks are often provided by another company underneath the product you buy.

Our own figures are counts of products, not market share, and ownership changes often: we review our research every month. Top 200 figures: PC Legal Technology analysis of Legal IT Insider's UK Top 200 data, 2022 and 2025, matched to current ownership. If you think anything here is out of date, please tell us and we will correct it.

Why it matters

Ownership is not good or bad in itself. A listed company or a well-funded investor can be exactly what a firm wants behind a critical system: the resources to invest, to secure it and to support it for years. Choosing such a supplier is often good governance. What matters is that ownership changes, usually without the firm having any say, and it changes who makes the decisions that affect your firm.

• Price and contract terms are increasingly set at group level, and renewals can change when the owner does.
• Roadmaps follow the group's priorities. When a group owns several systems, investment tends to follow the one it sees as its future.
• Migration offers come from inside a portfolio. A move to "our newer product" may be the right answer, or a lesser product at a lower price. Either way, judge it against your own requirements (see Price rise or forced migration?).
• Your shortlist may be smaller than it looks. Three "alternatives" from one group are one supplier relationship.
• Your client data may sit with companies you have never heard of. Every provider behind a product is a sub-processor, and a link in your supply chain (see Your weakest link may not be yours).

How to check who owns a supplier, in ten minutes

1. Find the legal company name. It is in the supplier's website footer, terms or contract, and is often different from the product name.
2. Search Companies House. Use the free Find and update company information service, open the company, then "People" and "Persons with significant control". This shows who controls more than 25% of the company.
3. Follow the chain. If the controller is another company, search for that company and repeat, until you reach a person, a listed company or a statement that there is no registrable person. Ownership chains of three or four companies are common.
4. Look at the history. "Filing history" shows recent changes of control, and the company page shows whether it is active, dissolved or in liquidation.
5. For ID and AML checks, check the register. The government's Digital Verification Services register lists certified identity providers. If your product is not listed under its own name, ask which certified provider sits behind it.
6. Read the owner's own announcements. They usually say what they bought, when, and what they plan for it.

Companies House only shows holdings over 25%, so smaller investments will not appear. If in doubt, ask.

Three questions to ask every supplier, in writing

1. Who ultimately owns your company, and has that changed in the last three years?
2. Which other companies provide part of this service to us, and where is our data held by each?
3. If your ownership changes, what happens to our price, the product's roadmap and our data?

What to put in the contract

• Notice of any change of control, with the right to leave, and take all of your data in a usable form, if you are not content with the new owner's plans.
• Price protection that survives a change of ownership.
• A named list of sub-processors, with notice before any change.
• A commitment to support the product for a stated period, and a long notice period before it is withdrawn.

Know your suppliers as well as they know you

Good governance is not avoiding investor-backed suppliers. It is knowing who owns each critical supplier, noticing when that changes, and having the contract terms that protect the firm when it does. Law firms check their clients carefully. Their software suppliers deserve the same care, because they hold the client data, the client account and years of history. Ten minutes on Companies House and three questions in writing tell you who you are really dealing with (see also When your software vendor is bought).

We help firms understand their suppliers and their contracts, compare the options on their own requirements, and negotiate from a position of knowledge, independently of any vendor.