Most Enterprising Law Firm of the Year

This award is for the firm that has embraced innovation and marked itself out as being a progressive market leader. Ways this could have been achieved include a change in strategy, the development of a new practice area, the introduction of new technology, a successful branding exercise or an attempt to improve the quality of the firm's working environment.

 

Previous Winners


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No sooner had Eversheds begun to celebrate winning a £10m-a-year mandate to be sole European counsel to manufacturing and services giant Tyco, than the enormity of its new task hit home. The instruction required the transfer of files from 282 firms throughout the EMEA region, comprising as many as 1,000 live matters across 70 countries. As energy partner and Tyco account head Stephen Hopkins said: ‘It was a logistical nightmare.’

The solution was the Global Account Management System (GAMS). An extension of the highly successful DuPont Legal Model – Eversheds remains the only non-US firm on the primary adviser list – GAMS brought together the firm’s existing RAPID and DealTrack project management systems, providing it with a single platform capable of handling Tyco’s vast workflow.

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Each instruction starts with the creation of an individual ‘matter form’, which outlines the details of the proposed work and an accurate estimate of the cost, for approval before any work begins. Clients are then able to access their account online at any point to monitor progress and view an up-to-date summary of accrued billings.

With clients such as Orange, Boeing, Brady and Steifel all having subsequently signed up, and a second phase system about to be launched, GAMS looks set to play a key role in Eversheds’ project management for years to come.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

BERWIN LEIGHTON PAISNER
Jonathan Brenner; Simon Harper

Initially launched as a pilot in an attempt to introduce much-needed flexibility into the client-lawyer relationship, BLP’s ‘Lawyers on Demand’ initiative brings together a pool of freelance lawyers that, having been vetted and trained by the firm, are then able to work directly for clients as and when required. The scheme now has 16 lawyers acting for clients such as Orange, Dell and UBS, and should grow to 50 within the next two years.

GARRIGUES
José María Anguiano; José Manuel Oliva

With the international nature of business, face-to-face meetings are not always possible. So, Spanish giant Garrigues launched its innovative ‘Logalty’ joint venture with Deutsche Telekom’s business customer arm T-Systems. The novel system utilises in-house proprietary technology to allow for legal contracts to be securely signed over the internet, and also offers custodian services for e-contracts. The firm has applied for a European patent and is already marketing the service in 28 countries.

QUINN EMANUEL URQUART OLIVER & HEDGES
Richard East

At a time when UK firms were unwilling or unable to litigate against the banks, US firm Quinn Emanuel launched in London with the sole intention of doing just that. In doing so, the firm provided a perfect example of how to successfully exploit a market niche. It has added to its initial capture of Richard East from Kirkland & Ellis with a number of high-profile hires, creating a City operation more than capable of taking on the largest of financial institutions.

STEVENS & BOLTON
Michael Frisby

In establishing ‘Risk Assist’, Guildford firm Stevens & Bolton became one of the first law firms to broker its own after-the-event insurance policies for its litigation clients. The deal, with insurer Temple Legal Protection, authorises it to issue policies on mainstream litigation cases up to £250,000 in value that operate on a conditional fee agreement basis. Not only will it help the firm ensure a greater recovery of fees, the model’s attractiveness to clients should also see its workload increase.