A lot in Swiss legal tech happens quietly – which is exactly why this transaction was so remarkable: CASUS sold the “CASUS Create” product line (no-code document automation) to the Berlin-based company Lawlift, repositioning itself strategically as a result. In an interview, Celeste Urech and Fabian Staub discuss why they took this step, what they learned from it, and how they assess the Swiss legal-tech market over the coming years.
This article summarizes the key statements from the episode of the video podcast series, “ROI – Return on Intelligence” by Bridge Legal Group AG with Host Karin Mülchi.
1) Why CASUS sold “Create”: Focus instead of running two worlds in parallel
The main reason is clear: focus. Celeste and Fabian describe how the legal market and technology have evolved so significantly that things are now possible that simply weren’t feasible a few years ago – and these shifts have reignited their vision for the future of legal work.
At the same time, “CASUS Create” was a successful legacy product. But as a small team, it’s difficult to keep developing two product lines with full commitment. The exit therefore wasn’t just an opportunity. It was also a decision for clarity: one product, one vision, one focus.
There’s also a second theme that comes up repeatedly in the interview: customer continuity. CASUS didn’t want to “cut off” users, but to provide a strong successor solution that meets the high expectations of their user base. In Lawlift, they saw that fit.
2) The key learning from the deal: Vision first, details second
Especially interesting is their reflection on an earlier, unsuccessful attempt with another software company. The takeaway: the first time, CASUS went deep into economic and legal details before the strategic direction was truly clear. In hindsight, it doesn’t surprise them that the effort didn’t fail because of minor issues – but because the “big picture” didn’t align.
With Lawlift, it worked differently: first, open conversations about values, goals, and shared foundations – and only then the details. That’s a strong pattern that applies far beyond M&A: without alignment, even perfect contract clauses won’t make a deal real.
3) Who is Lawlift – and why is Switzerland so attractive for foreign players?
In the interview, CASUS frames Lawlift as a leading provider of document automation in German-speaking Europe. Lawlift already has larger customers in Switzerland, and through the deal, additional CASUS Create customers will now move to Lawlift.
Their positioning is notable: from CASUS’s perspective, Lawlift’s interest was less driven by technology and more by the market – customer access and market share in Switzerland. That fits what many observers see: Switzerland is a small but attractive market because willingness to pay and quality expectations are high – while multilingualism and market fragmentation remain real challenges.
4) CASUS after the strategic exit: “Here to stay”
One message is very clear: CASUS isn’t going anywhere. They are staying in Switzerland, selling “Create,” but now focusing entirely on their second product, which they describe as an “AI Associate.” Their ambition is to be among the leaders for specific tasks in the Swiss and DACH markets – and, over time, to become modern standard tooling for lawyers, right where they already work: in Microsoft Word.
This “in-Word” thesis is strategically strong because it doesn’t start with “AI can do everything,” but with workflow realism: contract work is Word work. Tools that ignore that create friction.
5) Competition from Harvey & Legora: “HubSpot vs Salesforce”
Their view on international players is refreshingly pragmatic. CASUS argues that Harvey and Legora have raised very large funding rounds – and with that comes pressure to grow extremely big. That drives aggressive global sales, especially into large law firms, because only there are deal sizes large enough.
CASUS positions itself differently on purpose: small and mid-sized firms and teams, no complex rollouts, less need for an innovation team or an IT project. They describe it vividly as “HubSpot to Salesforce”: more accessible, faster to deploy, more pragmatic.
At the same time, they emphasize an advantage that matters particularly in Switzerland: Swissness. Feedback loops are shorter, and local needs flow into the product faster. For international vendors, Switzerland is often a “small fish” – they build for many markets at once. For CASUS, Switzerland is the core market, and therefore the product reality.
6) Market outlook: Fragmentation remains, but consolidation increases
CASUS expects more M&A activity because two forces are acting at the same time:
Vendors focus on specific tasks (specialization)
Customers still want “everything from one hand” (integration)
This tension often leads to mergers – and, in their view, some players will also disappear if they entered opportunistically but don’t understand legal practice deeply enough.
Another important point: lawyers are much better at buying software today than they were five years ago. Teams are more specific in their requirements, evaluate vendors more systematically, and understand use cases better. That will make the market tougher – and, in the long run, more professional.
7) “Is this a bubble?” – CASUS separates hype from measurable usage
When asked about hype, they respond with a useful comparison: bubbles are a market phenomenon. Even if there is a correction, models and tooling won’t disappear. What matters is whether a product is actually used in daily work – and they point to measurable effects: fewer errors, faster work. That’s a clear distinction between AI narrative and AI productivity.
8) Vision & culture
Their 3–5 year vision is framed very concretely: CASUS should become a standard tool in Switzerland, across the DACH region and beyond – automating monkey work and giving lawyers more time for strategic work, stakeholder advisory, and the human side of client service.
They close with an anecdote from the exit process that sticks: in customer handover conversations, they realized you don’t just hand over a product – you hand over habits, responsibility, and relationships. Especially in tech day-to-day life, it’s a good reminder that legal tech isn’t just “software” – it’s part of how people actually work.
Conclusion: An exit as a signal – and a new beginning
What makes this interview valuable is that the exit isn’t told as an “ending,” but as a strategic step into a new phase. Focus, Word integration, Swiss-hosted reality, fast feedback loops, and a clear target group – these are the guardrails CASUS emphasizes after the transaction.
And for the broader market, it’s a signal: Swiss legal tech is maturing. Buyers, sellers, consolidation, specialization – everything is moving more toward product and market logic, instead of pure experimentation.
