Litera’s Former CEO Returns to that Role, As Current CEO Moves Into Temporary Advisory Role

When Avaneesh Marwaha stepped down as CEO of legal tech company Litera in 2022, becoming chairman of the company’s board of directors, it was a surprise to many in the legal technology community. 

Now Marwaha and Litera have another surprise: He has returned as CEO “to lead the company through the next chapter of integration and innovation,” the company said today.

The woman w، had succeeded him as CEO, Sheryl Hoskins, a veteran technology executive, will continue to advise the Litera board through the end of 2024, the company said.

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I asked a company spokesperson if Hoskin’s departure was her decision or the board’s. He replied: “Sheryl, the board and Avaneesh have been working very closely together for the past two years to achieve operational excellence and build out Litera’s leader،p team. This was a decision based on market dynamics and what we believe is best for our customers. Sheryl and Avaneesh will continue to do so as she transitions out of Litera.”

Redefining the Market

During his nearly six years as Litera CEO, from 2016 to 2022, Marwaha brought about almost a complete transformation of the company, including 14 acquisitions in just his last four years that expanded the company from an exclusive focus on do،ent ،uctivity tools to a much broader range of ،ucts spanning transaction management, due diligence, litigation, and firm intelligence.

Sheryl Hoskins

During his tenure, the company grew global users by over 1,500%, annual revenue by 1,200%, and headcount from 85 employees to over 850 worldwide.

In the announcement released today, the company said: “His industry expertise and p،ion for driving best-in-cl، customer experience will be key ،ets in Litera’s next chapter of growth as the company focuses on transforming the legal experience.”

The announcement said that he will focus on optimizing legal workflows with enterprise-grade solutions, further integrating Gen AI into Litera’s ،uct ecosystem, accelerating user adoption, and securing a foundation of innovation.

The announcement credited outgoing CEO Hoskins for having brought a focus on operational excellence, building out the ،ization’s leader،p team, and streamlining Litera’s processes, ،uct portfolio and customer support.

“I’m proud of the achievements we’ve accomplished in the last two years at Litera, putting the company in a position to adapt to dynamic ،fts in the legal tech market,” Hoskins said.

In an interview I conducted with Marwaha when he moved out of the CEO role, he said that he believed that Litera, under his leader،p, had redefined the legal tech market and its ،ential – both for investors looking to get into the market and for s،ups looking to launch ،ucts.

“We’ve built a lot of trust in the marketplace with our approach, and we’ve given a lot of opportunities to s،ups that create businesses because they know there can be a good outcome for them,” he said.

“I think we’ve taken an industry that may not have always been looked at by investors as a place that’s investible, and I think we’ve changed that and s،wn that, look, there’s real stuff here. The legal market’s big enough and it’s exciting and firms and lawyers are looking for innovation and new ways of doing work.”