Legastat Ltd.

Legastat Ltd. is a privately owned litigation support firm headquartered in Carey Street, in the heart of legal London, behind the Royal Courts of Justice. Founded in 1953 by Michael Eddowes, a solicitor, the business began as a specialist legal copying service and has since evolved into an end-to-end litigation support bureau. The company has been trusted by solicitors, barristers, and courts across the UK and beyond for over 70 years. Legastat specialises in eDiscovery and court bundles, combining the expertise of its project managers with automation, generative AI, and security to help clients reduce disclosure risks and associated costs. Its services span the entire Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) lifecycle, from forensic collection through to disclosure, review, and trial presentation. The firm manages electronic and paper evidence, offering a dedicated project manager for each case to eliminate the need to repeat information or coordinate multiple service partners. Key service areas include digital forensics and investigations, eDiscovery services, court bundles, and document review. Legastat performs targeted data collection from physical devices (PCs, laptops, mobile devices) and cloud sources (SharePoint, Office 365, Gmail, etc.), with a focus on security, defensibility, data integrity, and audit trails. The company produces hundreds of electronic court bundles every month, using technology to automate repetitive tasks while ensuring compliance with Practice Directions for each court. Large bundles can be sent directly to courts using MoJ-approved file transfer protocols. Legastat serves law firms, chambers, government departments, corporations, and sole practitioners involved in litigation, arbitration, or investigations. Its client base relies on the firm to meet disclosure obligations timely, accurately, and cost-efficiently. The company's senior team has more than 20 years of experience working together at Legastat, providing continuity and consistency that is increasingly rare in the industry. Over the decades, Legastat has been an early adopter of legal technology, from what may have been London's first colour photocopier in the 1970s to the Xerox 5080 wide-format machine in the 1980s, and scanning services in the 1990s. Today, the firm continues to operate from its original Carey Street location, combining paper and digital capabilities under the tagline "paper meets pixels."

Legastat was founded in September 1953 by Michael Eddowes, a solicitor, in Carey Street, in the heart of legal London. The business began as a specialist legal copying service, and as the Law Gazette later described it, Legastat became "Carey Street's renowned legal copying business." John Eddowes, Michael's son, liked to recall 1953 as a year of momentous events: Hillary and Tenzing conquered Everest, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, England won the Ashes, and "Legastat started." The 1960s passed largely uneventfully for the company, though a young David Jones—later known as David Bowie—recorded an early version of "A Space Oddity" in the basement using a Dictaphone borrowed from John. The song went on to become Bowie's first UK No. 1 in 1969. By the 1970s, John was firmly involved in the business, and the press noted that the Carey Street premises housed what may have been London's first colour photocopier. In the 1980s, John brought the Xerox 5080, the pinnacle of wide-format technology at the time, to Legastat. The machine was so large that installing it required reinforcing the floor and removing the windows. The 1990s marked another stage in Legastat's evolution with the introduction of scanning services. While scanning promised a move towards a paperless future, paper volumes continued to grow between 1990 and 2015, driven in part by the adoption of digital printing. The turn of the century and beyond saw Legastat continue to evolve with the legal profession. What began as a specialist legal copying business in the heart of London has evolved into an eDiscovery business and an end-to-end litigation support bureau. Today, the company's capabilities extend across eDiscovery, forensic collection, document review, litigation support, and trial presentation, providing clients with an end-to-end service throughout the lifecycle of a case. Legastat remains privately owned and continues to operate from its original Carey Street location, behind the Royal Courts of Justice. The firm has been trusted by solicitors, barristers, and courts across the UK and beyond for over 70 years. Its senior team has more than 20 years of experience working together at Legastat, providing clients with a level of consistency and familiarity that is increasingly rare in the industry. The company has built strong, lasting relationships with clients, suppliers, and even competitors, many developed over decades and founded on trust, professionalism, and a shared understanding of the legal services industry.

• 2000

  Legastat evolves into an eDiscovery business and end-to-end litigation support bureau.

• 1990

  Legastat introduces scanning services, marking a move towards digital workflows.

• 1980

  Legastat brings in the Xerox 5080 wide-format machine, requiring floor reinforcement and window removal.

• 1970

  Legastat's Carey Street premises house what may have been London's first colour photocopier.

• 1969

  David Bowie's early version of 'A Space Oddity' recorded in Legastat's basement becomes his first UK No. 1.

• 1953

  Legastat founded by Michael Eddowes in Carey Street, London, as a legal copying business.

Expert litigation support from the heart of the legal community, combining advanced technology, AI, and automation with decades of experience to deliver secure, end-to-end services for the legal sector.

• eDiscovery Services

  End-to-end eDiscovery project management from forensic data collection to disclosure and court bundles, experienced in litigation, arbitration, investigations, and public inquiries.

• Digital Forensics & Investigations

  Targeted data collection from physical devices and cloud sources, with security, defensibility, data integrity, and audit trail as fundamentals.

• Court Bundles

  Electronic and paper trial bundles produced using automation and paralegals to ensure compliance with Practice Directions; large bundles sent via MoJ-approved FTPs.

• Document Review

  AI-powered review workflows combined with experienced reviewers to deliver accurate and defensible reviews within tight deadlines.

1. 1Legastat official website homepagelegastat.co.uk
2. 2Our History: Building a Wealth of Experience | Legastatlegastat.co.uk
3. 3Our Services | Legastatlegastat.co.uk
4. 4About Legastat | Legastatlegastat.co.uk
5. 5Legastat Ltd. - Wikidatawikidata.org