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Working at Cognition LLP
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About
Ho and Milstone were both senior in-house lawyers who thought the economics of corporate legal services were wrong: clients paid for towers, leverage pyramids and hours rather than for the work. Cognition ran the other way — lawyers placed with clients, no downtown overhead to fund, priced accordingly — and its own framing was a law firm that behaved like a startup. By the time of the deal it had a roster of about 50 lawyers and 60 large corporate clients. On 14 January 2016, Axiom, the New York legal services company, acquired the general counsel side of the business, making Toronto its sixth international office; the firm split in two, with the corporate in-house work going to Axiom Cognition and the small and medium-sized enterprise practice continuing as Caravel Law, owned by Ho and Milstone. Ho went on to co-found CrowdMatrix, an early Canadian investment crowdfunding platform, which Kognitiv acquired in 2019.
Backers
A law firm rather than a funded company; it took no outside investment. Axiom acquired its general counsel business in January 2016.
Quick answers
What was Cognition LLP?
A Toronto law firm built to sell corporate legal work without the overhead of a traditional firm — lawyers placed with clients rather than a downtown practice funded by billable hours. It described itself as a law firm that behaved more like a startup.
Who founded it?
Rubsun Ho and Joe Milstone, in 2005. Both had been senior in-house lawyers; Ho began as a securities lawyer in Stikeman Elliott's Toronto and New York offices.
What happened to it?
On 14 January 2016 Axiom, the New York legal services company, acquired its general counsel business, opening Axiom's sixth international office in Toronto. The firm split: the corporate in-house work became Axiom Cognition, and the practice serving small and medium-sized enterprises continued as Caravel Law, owned by Ho and Milstone.
Who from Cognition is in this directory?
Rubsun Ho, its co-founder, who presented at TechTO in May 2016 on quitting your day job — then running CrowdMatrix, the investment crowdfunding platform he went on to sell to Kognitiv in 2019.