The Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe 2019 ranking. As the Financial Times itself points out: “Law firms are going digital”.
Since the publication, it has also been specified that for the FT Innovative Lawyers for Europe 2019 report, 750 submissions and nominations have been received from 163 law firms, legal service providers and other organisations, and from 47 internal legal teams. The research was carried out by researchers from RSG Consulting (research partner) between April and July 2019, and interviews were conducted with more than 800 clients, lawyers, executives and experts to arrive at the final ranking.
As far as the Spanish representation is concerned, six firms manage to be among the 50 Most Innovative Law Firms in Europe: Cuatrecasas (6), Écija (16), Garrigues (20), Gómez-Acebo & Pombo (28), RCD (28) and Uría (31).
Cuatrecasas, therefore, for the second consecutive year appears in the ranking as the most innovative firm in continental Europe; becoming the firm, which has won the awards of Most Innovative Firm in Europe (not including the UK) and Innovative Firm in Talent Management and Development. Cuatrecasas once again occupies the first position of non-Anglo-Saxon law firm in the ranking, a very short distance from the five firms that are ahead of it.
For its part, Garrigues received the Financial Times Legal Innovation Award for opening a new avenue that makes it easier for international investors to recover non-performing loans (NPLs or non-performance loans) from financial institutions.
As an introductory gateway to the publication of the list (table) of the most innovative, the FT points out that law firms across Europe that want to be taken seriously by their clients and future employees now accept the need to become digital companies. In fact, many are on the way. What is surprising, they exclaim, is the exchange rate. During the first decade that the Financial Times published the Innovative Lawyers special report for Europe, the change in the legal profession was gradual. Since 2016, it has become exponential.
A good example of that fast pace is this year’s highest-ranking law firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Regarding which, they recall that it began its journey towards this change in 2017, with the establishment of a program for the affiliation of associates to customers for periods of 6 months. The program initially had 14 partners and has quickly grown to become an important part of the firm’s innovation efforts. By recruiting digital specialists with experience in other industries, it has been possible to implement ideas that initially seemed wonderful but difficult (Julian Long, former managing partner and first internal sponsor of the program at Freshfields).
The great London party of the legal sector has also awarded and recognized in its category of Rule of law and Access to Justice, the General Council of Spanish Lawyers, for its Legal Aid Switchboard project. According to the Council itself, the On-Call Switchboard is a renewed service of RedAbogacía that through automated phone calls allows the Bar Association to manage the complete cycle of locating a lawyer on duty for the assignment of a Duty Shift assistance.
All of these are a sign of the growing digital maturity of the legal profession, according to the FT itself.
Originally published on TheTechnoLawGist
