Evident Legal founders Jonathan Brewer (left) and Jean-Paul Camelbeek

The Simplify Group – the legal services group that owns QualitySolicitors – has added online business Evident Legal to its portfolio.

Evident began life in 2011 as a law firm franchise called Simplify the Law, before reinventing itself a year later as an online document business for both consumers and businesses that also had a lawyer directory if users needed further help. It took funding in 2013 from ARC InterCapital.

The website has evolved since, with former solicitors and law graduate now offering advice to users on the documents they are drafting. Though there is no longer a directory, there is an automated referral system to law firms.

The platform is also white-labelled by law firms – including several in the top 50 – and by in-house legal teams.

The Simplify Group is owned by private equity company Palamon and is made up of QualitySolicitors, conveyancing brands Move with Us and DC Law, and probate specialist Chorus Law.

Its stated mission is to “change legal services for good by creating the UK’s most successful large-scale legal services organisation with customers at its heart”.

With technology central to achieving this, a statement said Evident would add “a growing digital business into the group as well as providing a leading-edge platform which will be used to further enhance the technical capability of the companies already within the group”.

Evident Legal founders Jonathan Brewer and Jean-Paul Camelbeek will take up senior roles within The Simplify Group to grow the Evident business and lead the development of its digital and online strategy.

The Simplify Group’s chief executive, David Grossman, said: “There is huge potential in developing the businesses within The Simplify Group to deliver first-class legal services which have customer experience and satisfaction at their core. Evident Legal is an exciting digital business with rich content and a technology platform that will play a central role in the future success of the group.”

Mr Brewer added: “Our ambition is to simplify the law by making legal services fast, efficient and clear. With our technology and content and the resources, customer base and channel of The Simplify Group, we believe we can achieve that ambition even more quickly. This deal represents a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.”