Pinsent Masons named among the five most innovative law firms in Europe by the Financial Times

International professional services firm Pinsent Masons has been ranked among the five most innovative law firms in Europe by the Financial Times.

Further, Alastair Morrison, a Board member and Head of Client Strategy at Pinsent Masons, was joint-winner of the Legal Innovators category for his work over several years to promote collaboration with clients and third parties to resolve their most-pressing commercial challenges.

The firm was ranked 4th overall in the annual index in addition and recognised as:

• Standout in the Technology category, for its collaboration with KLDiscovery and a major blue-chip business which resulted in a revolutionary approach to fast and cost-effective compliance with Subject Access Requests;
• Standout in the Strategy and Changing Behaviours category, for its work in transitioning toward being a purpose-led business;
• Highly commended in the Managing and Development Talent category, for its work with Matthew Syed, one world’s most influential thinkers in the field of high performance culture, on a programme promoting holistic wellbeing and continuous improvement;
• Highly commended in the Managing Complexity and Scale category, for its full-service advice on the development of a private equity-backed new town in the UK;
• Commended in the Enabling Business Growth and Transformation category, for its work advising a German funder on the development of an app enabling consumers to obtain mortgage quotes via Amazon’s Alexa device;
• Commended in the Creating a New Standard category for its work advising a with-profits life insurance business on how it could protect its customers interests in the event of multiple scenarios arising from Brexit;
• Commended in the Dispute Resolution category for its work on a dispute that ultimately enabled an affordable, generic version of a life changing HIV treatment to be brought to market.
• Commended in the Collaboration category for its work with the Open Data Institute on the pioneering use of data trusts.

In the individual categories the judges said of Alastair Morrison, “A theme of Alastair’s career has been his capacity to galvanise colleagues to rethink their approach, embrace change and move faster than the competition…Mr Morrison has pushed the firm to modernise, by forming innovative collaborations with clients and third-party providers.” He was recognised in particular for his work in fostering conditions in which the firm has launched several successful ventures in areas ancillary to traditional legal services, including its freelance lawyers service Vario, the acquisition of diversity and inclusion consultants Brook Graham and the development of legal solutions platform SmartDelivery. Richard Foley, Andrew Masraf and Alexander Bayer also received commendations.

Pinsent Masons' Senior Partner Richard Foley says:

“This is another important milestone in our continued transition toward becoming a purpose-led professional services business with law at its core. It is pleasing to see a wide range of work and individuals being recognised across our business, particularly following on from our ranking in the FT’s ten most innovative law firms in Asia Pacific earlier this year. What this demonstrates is the extent to which innovation, pushing the boundaries and promoting progress has become institutionalised across our business."

FT Innovative Lawyers Europe 2019 is an independently researched rankings report which recognises excellence in legal expertise and the business of law. This year the researchers received 750 submissions and nominations from 163 law firms, legal service providers and other organisations.