InnovatIve Lawyers 2015 october 22015 ft.com/innovative-lawyers ReseaRch paRtneR suppoRted by ForeWord The first decade Welcometoalandmark edition of Innovative Lawyersmagazine. This is the10thyearofanFT specialreportthathas weighedand ranked the work of European legalorganisationsduringatimeofgreat change in the industry. In therun-uptoour first report,manyinand outsidethe profession said innovating wasnot what lawyersdid.In2006 just twoleading legalfirms expresslycited innovation as avalue on theirwebsites. Nowalmostall do. Andthe growth of theseriesofFTreports,now with threeseparateregional editions,shows howfirmsaroundthe worldhaveembracedinnovation. Theworkoflawyers wastransformed by theglobaleconomiccrisisin 2008.Theywerecalledontosteadybusinesses andgovernments,especially as bankerscameunder increasing suspicion.Thatworkisstill going on but stronger regulation in thewakeofthe crisis is also forcingmorecompliance work upon companiesaroundthe world—and they areturning tolawyers forhelp. Theincreasingtempo of change hasbeenfeltinthe structures of legal FTSpecialreporTS ediTor Leyla Boulton organisations. Mergersacross continents have become widespread in ediTor thepastdecadeand severalfirmshavemoved close to beingtruly global Rohit Jaggi producTion ediTor entities.And anylistofthe eliteofthe profession hastoinclude some US George Kyriakos firms that have made substantial inroadsintothe Europeanmarket. arTdirecTor Jonathan Saunders In theUK, theLegal Services Act2007, liberalising some areasofthe JuniordeSigner profession,has hadamuchgreater effect than many lawyersexpected Harriet Thorne picTure ediTorS when it wasfirstmooted. Many firms have taken advantageofthe Emily Lewis |Michael Crabtree legislationtohirenon-lawyers into thepartnership,and to setupother Sub ediTor Philip Parrish typesofbusiness. Tenyears ago, fewfirmsthoughttheywould outsource TableS deSigner work.Now nearly allthe topfirmshaveanoffshoreorlow-costcentre. In Derek Westwood therestofEurope, too, anumberoffirmslookradically differentfroma illuSTraTor MartinO’Neill decade agoand,byembracing theconcept of continuous change,havebeen global adVerTiSingdirecTor —b2b featured regularlyinthe report’s rankings over theyears. Robert Grange global clienT relaTionSHip direcTor Technology is anotherconsistentlygrowing themeofthe FT Innovative StephanieCollier Lawyersreports.Firms have gonefromoutrightscepticismtoembracing publiSHing SYSTeMS Manager Andrea Frias-Andrade technology that candeliver much greatervalue to clients. If we look ahead proJecT Manager to theprofessioninanother 10 years’ time,manyfirmsmight well be using NathalieRavier adVerTiSingproducTion artificialintelligencetopowersomeoftheir legaladvice. This mayreduce Daniel Lesar thesizeoflegal organisations—but it mightalsoplace thefocusevenmore rSg conSulTing Reena SenGupta, Yasmin Lambert, closely on thetailored, innovative advice that thebestlawyers have builtan Lucy Pearson, Laura Ansell,Victoria Harris, Katie O’Riordan,Joshua expertiseinproviding. James, Helen Jenkins, Scott Shustak, Hannah Bledsoe Lionel Barber Editor,Financial Times FT.COM/INNOVATIVE-LAWYERS 3 contents This year… special achievement business of law 7 David Morley,below, senior client service partner at Allen &Overy,has 16 been the driving force behind Collaborations with in-house the firm’s success as afirst legal teams and fresh ideas moverinnumerous fields for corporate projects are just twowaysfirmshave added valuetotheir service social responsibility 20 Ideas and initiatives in which lawyers engage with and help civil societyare also benefiting their firms strateGic resourcinG 24 Some of the most creative efficiency improvements have produced substantial savings for lawfirms, which they have then been able to pass on to their 7 clients Growth and business introduction development 8 28 Financial crisis has defined As some firms takeonthe the 10 yearsthese reports accountancy giants in the have been running, but many liberalised legal market, more challenges, not least in others are building revenues new technology, lie ahead from less orthodoxavenues 13 continental technoloGy individuals 13 32 36 36 The climate of austerityin Digital strategies have been Judges chose joint winners some of Europe’sweaker thefocus of investment in the of the award for legal economies has encouraged search for efficiency gains, innovator of the year — lawfirmsinthose countries including agrowing interest Shireen Irani, right, and to experiment more in artificial intelligence Simon Harper contributors Arash Massoudi,FTM&A research consultant and FT and corporate finance contributor, correspondent Duncan Robinson,FT Murad Ahmed,FTEuropean Sarah Murray,FTcontributor Brussels correspondent technologycorrespondent Laura Noonan,FTinvestment Reena SenGupta,RSG Jane Croft,FTlaw courts banking correspondent consulting chief executiveand correspondent Christian Oliver,FTEU FT contributor LindsayFortado,FTlegal correspondent Michael Skapinker,FT correspondent Lucy Pearson,RSG Consulting associate editor 4 FT.COM/INNOVATIVE-LAWYERS 2015 rankings and award winners research Ranking Page Award winner methodoloGy FT 10: European law firm innovators 2015 10 Pinsent Masons FT InnovativeLawyers 2015 is arankingsreport and Top10European game-changers of the past 10 years 10 DLAPiper/Latham &Watkins series of awards for Europe- Top10European law firms (non-UK) 15 Garrigues based lawyers. Shortlists Topfivegame changers of the past 10 years (non-UK) 15 Vieira de Almeida &Associados (VdA) for the awards comprise the top-ranked submissions in each section of the report. Client service 19 Pinsent Masons The FT and its research leGal eXpertise Social responsibility 21 iProbono partner RSG Consulting Strategic resourcing 26 Axiom have devised aunique methodologytorank lawyers corporate and Growth and businessdevelopment 29 Signature Litigation on innovation. Lawfirms, in- commercial Technology 35 Axiom/Pinsent Masons house legal teams and other 42 legal service organisations The revival in mergers and Corporate and commercial 43 Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira are invited to submit their acquisition activityhas been innovations. These are then Finance 47 Dechert fully researched through an opportunityfor firms to Dispute resolution 49 Hogan Lovells telephone interviewsand showtheir deal-sealing skills Competition 51 Linklaters online feedback. No entryappears in this finance Intellectual property 53 Wiggin report without arobust 46 client or independent Complexcross-border deals In-house legal team 57 BT Group reference. Market experts have required original In-house operational change 57 Wolseley Group are also called in to assess thinking from companies’ the submissions and the Outstanding innovation of 2015 Linklaters research. advisers Each entryisscoredout of 10 points fororiginality, rationale and impact, in-house for amaximum score 28 55 of 30. Entries are then Working in acompany’s legal benchmarked against department has become an each other to arriveatthe final rankings. Lawyers exciting option for lawyers are ranked for delivering interested in innovation, exceptional valueto following atransformation business. in roles in the past 10 years The in-house lawyer rankings are drawn from nominations as well risinG stars as submissions, but all entries require third- 58 partyvalidation and Five individuals aged under commendation. 40 whohavedemonstrated that ideas in the legal ft 10: lawfirm profession do not have to innovators 2015 come from the top down The FT 10 ranking is apure aggregate of each lawfirm’s dispute resolution performance across the 48 private practice categories So intricate is international 46 of the report. This year we litigation that firms are have truncated the ranking under pressure to find new (in previous years it was ways to achievesettlements the FT 50) to accommodate aranking of thegame- changing European law competition firms of the past 10 years, 50 commemorating the 10th In atesting regulatory edition of the Europereport. environment firms veha had This ranking is based on to be inventivetosecure lawfirms’answers to five positiveoutcomes for clients questions, considering growth, change, operational innovation, legal innovation intellectual property and contribution to the 52 profession. The advance of digital and online businesses has put the Forthe full methodology, go onus on their legal teams to 52 to ft.com/innovative-lawyers expand their range of skills FT.COM/INNOVATIVE-LAWYERS 5 Special achievement Front runner DavidMorley hasdriven hisfirm, Allen &Overy,to be thefirstmover in many fields in recent years. By Reena SenGupta avid Morley,senior partneratAllen &Overy,exudes youthfulness and enthusiasm—raretraitsinanindi- Dvidual whohas headed an interna- tional lawfirm for 12 years. Histenure at the firm has not been easy.He has seen the firm through the financial crisis and ensuing recession, and has met the chal- lenges of what manyinthe profession called the “new normal” —aworld where premium lawfirms can no longer dictate to their clients. Harlie BiBBy Allen &Overy,where he has worked since :C joining as an articled clerk in 1980, has gone OTO through manyincarnations. Once considered PH the latecomer to the “magic circle”oftop UK firms,ithas in recent years reinvented itself as nowhas alow-costcentre in Belfast, its own Allen &Overy,however,isshowing this is amemberofanelite groupofglobal firms. contract-lawyer business, Peerpoint, and vari- not the case. Profits are up 133 percent over Of note have been the decisions