Will it reach the heights of ROSS Westlaw stupidity?
Let’s hope so , nothing I would like to see more than all these companies destroy one another in pointless ongoing litigation in the search of being the legal publishing equivalent to this guy.
Lawnext
Alexi Technologies has filed its answer and counterclaim against Fastcase, vLex, and Clio, accusing the newly merged legal technology giant of manufacturing breach-of-contract allegations as a pretext to eliminate a competitor in the AI legal research market.
In December, Fastcase, now owned by Clio, sued Alexi in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging breach of contract, trademark infringement and trade secret misappropriation, all relating to Alexi’s use of data licensed from Fastcase.
But in a 65-page filing submitted late Friday, the Toronto-based AI legal research company not only denied Fastcase’s breach of contract and intellectual property claims, but launched its own offensive with a counterclaim listing six causes of action.
These include allegations that Clio’s $1 billion acquisition of vLex/Fastcase, which closed Nov. 10, violates federal antitrust law, and that Clio engaged in tortious interference with Alexi’s business relationships.
In response to Alexi’s court filing, a spokesperson for Clio issued this statement: “Fastcase categorically denies Alexi Technologies’ baseless allegations. Alexi’s claims add noise beyond what is, at its core, a dispute about compliance with a straightforward licensing agreement that explicitly prohibits use of the data for commercial or competitive purposes. Alexi’s own public statements indicate the data was used for commercial purposes. This counterclaim shifts attention away from that misuse and challenges Fastcase for enforcing its contractual rights and protecting intellectual property it has built over many years.”
From Partnership to Litigation
The counterclaim tells a story of what Alexi characterizes as a dramatic reversal, from years of a productive partnership to sudden and aggressive litigation – all triggered by Clio’s acquisition of vLex/Fastcase.
Alexi’s filing argues that it and Fastcase operated under their data license agreement without incident for nearly four years, with Fastcase providing daily caselaw updates that Alexi used to develop its AI-powered legal memo service.
The relationship was collaborative enough, Alexi says, that in 2023, vLex (which had merged with Fastcase earlier that year) named Alexi CEO Mark Doble a Fastcase 50 honoree, specifically citing his creation of an AI tool that “swiftly delivers answers in a clear, concise memo format.”
But everything changed, Alexi alleges, once Clio gained control over the Fastcase database through its acquisition.
The ‘Backfile’ Purchase Right
Central to Alexi’s counterclaim is a provision in the original 2021 data license agreement that purportedly guaranteed any acquirer of Alexi the right to purchase the Fastcase backfile with no restrictions for a sum that is redacted in the court filing but described as nominal.
This right, Alexi argues, “is a unique asset in the legal tech world” and “the only realistic foothold for a competitor to create a new comprehensive primary-law database.”
“It’s really a safeguard,” Doble told me in an interview Saturday. “We built this technology around this data and it’s a safeguard for any acquirer to be able to purchase the data. So any change-of-control transaction triggers this option for an Alexi-affiliated party to purchase the entire backlog.”
The backfile, Doble told me, refers to Fastcase’s complete database of U.S. caselaw – not just what Alexi had been licensing, but everything. “The full Fastcase backfile of all the case law,” he said.
According to Alexi’s filing, Clio discovered this provision during due diligence ahead of the closing and immediately moved to eliminate it. Alexi’s counterclaim alleges that in an Oct. 20, 2025, phone call, former Fastcase CEO Ed Walters (then vLex’s chief strategy officer) demanded Alexi relinquish the backfile purchase right without compensation. When Doble asked what would happen if Alexi refused, Walters allegedly warned, “there would be trouble.”
“Nobody outside of Clio or vLex presumably knows what value they ascribe to the backfile in that transaction,” Doble said in our call. “But presumably it was very problematic for them in diligence to discover this option to purchase it at this rate that was probably very different from the rate that they had booked in their financials.”
Seven days after that phone call, vLex sent Alexi a notice claiming breach of contract, which was the first such allegation in the parties’ four-year relationship, Alexi alleges.
Significantly, Doble noted that “the right to purchase this backlog survives termination of the agreement and termination for any reason” – suggesting that even if Fastcase’s termination of the license agreement were upheld, the backfile purchase option would remain.
A ‘Clog on Competition’
In its counterclaim, Alexi goes beyond the licensing issues to contend that Clio’s acquisition of Fastcase and vLex constitutes an antitrust violation under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers that may substantially lessen competition.
“The anticompetitive effects of Clio’s acquisition of Fastcase and vLex are demonstrated by its ability and incentive to foreclose rivals and stifle innovation and competition, reduce quality and worsen terms, reduce consumer choice, and increase prices in the legal AI services market,” the filing argues.
Read more if you have the energy
