Order of Precedents
Order of Precedents Limited is a bootstrapped New Zealand software vendor that builds a browser-based precedent management system for law firms and legal practices in New Zealand, offering on-premise or cloud-hosted deployment, usage tracking, and document categorization, with sales and support handled directly by its two-person leadership team.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersLower Hutt, New Zealand
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Order of Precedents does
Order of Precedents Limited is a privately held, bootstrapped New Zealand software vendor that builds a browser-based precedent management system for law firms and legal practices. Founded by Paul Steele, a former commercial and property lawyer, the company is headquartered in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, and operates with a two-person leadership team consisting of the founder (who also leads sales and marketing) and a technical lead who handles installation, upgrades, and customer support.
The core product is a single, standalone document repository that ingests, categorizes, and tracks legal precedents, clauses, checklists, and opinions. Capabilities include keyword and category tagging, party-favouring notes, related-document linking, commenting, firm-level endorsement of approved precedents, automatic archiving of unused documents, author alerts on download, and reporting on document usage. The system can be deployed on-premise inside a customer's network or hosted externally on the company's own servers, and includes intranet shortcuts to internal resources.
Revenue mechanics appear to combine subscription or licensing for the software with professional services for installation, upgrades, and ongoing support, though pricing is not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market is demonstration-led and direct, with all sales and support handled by the founder and a technical lead via phone, email, and a company website. The company serves a single vertical (law firms and legal practices) within a single geography (New Zealand), has 1-10 employees, no disclosed external investors, no partnerships, and no documented AI or integration capabilities.
Order of Precedents firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Order of Precedents
- Legal name
- Order of Precedents Limited
- Website
- https://orderofprecedents.co.nz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Order of Precedents Limited is a bootstrapped New Zealand software vendor that builds a browser-based precedent management system for law firms and legal practices in New Zealand, offering on-premise or cloud-hosted deployment, usage tracking, and document categorization, with sales and support handled directly by its two-person leadership team.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Order of Precedents industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Legal Practice Management Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Legal Practice Management & Case Management (BPAEAPAC)
Keywords
Where Order of Precedents is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lower Hutt
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Order of Precedents business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Licensing/Subscription: The company provides a precedent management software solution with installation and ongoing access. Given the product-led nature with installation, support, and upgrade services, the revenue model appears to be software licensing or subscription-based.
- Technical Support Services: Provides technical support services including installation, upgrades, and ongoing support during standard business hours.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
Order of Precedents product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Order of Precedents provides a browser-based precedent management system that acts as a single repository for law firms to organize, manage, and retrieve legal documents including precedents, clauses, checklists, and opinions. The system can be installed on a firm's network or hosted externally on the company's cloud servers and includes document categorization, usage tracking, commenting, endorsement workflows, archiving, and reporting capabilities.
Product overview
Order of Precedents is a single, unified precedent management system designed specifically for law firms and legal practices. The core product (Order of Precedents) provides a centralized repository for managing legal documents including precedents, clauses, checklists, and opinions. The system operates as a standalone application that can be installed within a firm's network or hosted externally on the company's servers. Key capabilities include document categorization and keyword tagging, usage tracking and reporting, commenting and collaboration features, practice endorsement workflows, automatic archiving of unused documents, download alerts, and intranet shortcuts to internal resources.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Order of Precedents
Companies that use Order of Precedents
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Order of Precedents technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature10 records
Order of Precedents partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Order of Precedents competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- NetDocuments: Cloud-native document management platform widely used by mid-market and large law firms. Represents the same underlying repository opportunity Order of Precedents addresses, but at enterprise scale - the dominant incumbent a regional precedent tool must coexist with or complement.
- iManage: Enterprise-grade document and email management system purpose-built for legal professionals. Competes indirectly by serving as the document repository layer above which Order of Precedents-style knowledge tools sit; relevant because it shapes buyer expectations and sets the integration ceiling.
- Westlaw (Thomson Reuters): Legal research and know-how platform, complemented by Practical Law precedent-style content. Relevant incumbent not as a workflow substitute but as an alternative source of firm precedents, shaping how a small specialized knowledge tool must position.
- MyCase: End-to-end legal practice management platform with document automation and template management for small-to-mid law firms. Comparable on the workflow automation and document organization axis that Order of Precedents serves.
- Clio: Leading cloud legal practice management suite for solo and small law firms. Closest SaaS analog on the practice-management side - includes document management, templates, and matter organization, which competes for the same budget line as a precedent management subscription.
- Practical Law (Thomson Reuters): Practitioner-level know-how, precedents, and templates service from Thomson Reuters. Functionally the content-side analog to Order of Precedents: both house curated legal content inside law firms, but Practical Law is global publisher scale while Order of Precedents manages in-house firm IP.
Emerging players
- LawToolBox: Microsoft 365-based legal practice management and deadline calendaring tool for small firms. Comparable as a niche, integration-led practice management product targeting small firm workflows, similar buyer to Order of Precedents.
- LeanLaw: Cloud practice management and accounting software for small law firms. Comparable as a small-firm SaaS targeting the same NZ/Smaller-Pacific legal market, with overlapping features around document organization and templates but broader scope.
- HotDocs: Document automation and template generation software historically used by law firms and now part of Epiq. Comparable because template/document automation is the workflow step adjacent to precedent management; buyers evaluating HotDocs may also evaluate Order of Precedents.
Direct peers
- LawVu: New Zealand-headquartered legal practice management and matter management platform serving in-house and law firm customers. Most directly comparable regional peer: similar NZ base, similar focus on legal workflow software, and overlapping potential buyer (firm administrators).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Order of Precedents social profiles
Digital presenceOrder of Precedents financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Order of Precedents leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Order of Precedents funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Order of Precedents M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Order of Precedents
What does Order of Precedents do?
Order of Precedents provides a browser-based precedent management system that acts as a single repository for law firms to organize, manage, and retrieve legal documents including precedents, clauses, checklists, and opinions. The system can be installed on a firm's network or hosted externally on the company's cloud servers and includes document categorization, usage tracking, commenting, endorsement workflows, archiving, and reporting capabilities.
Is Order of Precedents a public or private company?
Order of Precedents is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Order of Precedents founded?
Order of Precedents was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Order of Precedents based?
Order of Precedents is headquartered in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Order of Precedents make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Licensing/Subscription is the primary driver. The others are technical Support Services.
Who are Order of Precedents's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are NetDocuments, iManage, Westlaw (Thomson Reuters), MyCase, Clio and Practical Law (Thomson Reuters). Emerging players are LawToolBox, LeanLaw and HotDocs. LawVu is listed as a direct peer.
Does Order of Precedents have an API?
No public API is recorded for Order of Precedents.
What industry is Order of Precedents in?
Order of Precedents's product category is Legal Practice Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAPAC, Legal Practice Management & Case Management.