News

Leeds Equity Partners backed portfolio company invests in leading provider of online programs for US law schools

New York, USA — July 11, 2017. Legal education provider BARBRI, Inc., a Leeds Equity Partners, LLC portfolio company, today announced the acquisition of iLaw Ventures, LLC, the leading provider of online J.D., post-J.D. and international programs for law schools in the U.S. This acquisition brings together two industry pioneers and creates an unmatched set of end-to-end educational solutions for the U.S. law school market.

Since its acquisition by Leeds Equity Partners in 2011, BARBRI has expanded its solution offering to address the dynamic challenges faced by law schools through a suite of curriculum, faculty training, and assessment solutions. With the addition of iLaw, BARBRI can now also offer a robust, proven legal education distance learning platform.
"As the world changes, so does the way we learn. Law schools today are taking a much more holistic view of the entire legal education lifecycle from admissions and student assessments to faculty training and ultimately bar passage," Stephen Fredette, BARBRI CEO said. "BARBRI and iLaw together offer a powerful portfolio of solutions that meets the needs of both law schools and their students at every phase."

iLaw's portfolio encompasses J.D. content, post-J.D. graduate programs, strategic consulting for law schools, and international programs. iLaw has worked with over 20 percent of ABA-accredited law schools, including private schools such as Boston University, Vanderbilt, Emory and Baylor, and public schools such as Texas A&M and Illinois.
"We're extremely excited to become a part of BARBRI," Ken Randall, President of iLaw said. "Both companies have a shared commitment to helping law schools train and produce great lawyers, and we are confident that the combination of BARBRI's skills-focused curriculum and iLaw's substance-focused curriculum creates a compelling value proposition for our clients."

"We are thrilled to work with Ken and the iLaw team to advance BARBRI’s core mission of providing leading legal education solutions to its constituents,” added Kevin Malone, Vice President of Leeds Equity Partners. “We look forward to the continued success of iLaw as part of the BARBRI platform.”

About The BARBRI Group:
The BARBRI Group companies meet the legal education needs of law students and attorneys throughout their careers. At the core of The BARBRI Group Companies is BARBRI Bar Review, which has helped more than 1.3 million U.S. lawyers pass the exam. The company also provides specialized ongoing skills training and certifications in areas such as financial crime, eDiscovery, and cyber awareness, security and protection. The BARBRI Group affiliated companies work to improve legal and professional learning in the United States and around the world by providing superior opportunities for law schools and law firms, as well as law- and finance-related businesses to prosper. Founded in 1967, The BARBRI Group is headquartered in Dallas with offices throughout the United States and around the world.

About Leeds Equity Partners:
Leeds Equity Partners, LLC, is a New York-based private equity firm focused exclusively on investing in the education, training and information services industries (the “Knowledge Industries”). The firm was founded by Jeffrey T. Leeds and Robert A. Bernstein in 1993 and has raised and managed more than $1.5 billion of capital across its private equity funds.

For additional information on Leeds Equity Partners, see http://www.leedsequity.com/