2021 might be the year of the legal tech initial public offering (IPO). Or at least the year of legal tech companies announcing their intentions to become a public company. But are these private companies ready for the pressure of additional stakeholders and regulatory scrutiny?

Industry observers said the legal tech market isn’t inherently set to fail in the public market. However, the transition to an IPO isn’t simple, observers noted, and comes with additional regulatory and public scrutiny, as evidenced by the reported troubles plaguing data analytics software provider Nuix.