Financial Times Names Orrick the Most Digital Law Firm of 2020

2020 has turbo-charged innovation in the legal profession. To adapt, law firms, corporate legal departments, legaltech providers and the DEI community collaborated in ways we have never before seen.

We are deeply honored to be part of this collaboration -- and to be named by Financial Times as the Most Digital Law Firm in North America of 2020. Our best innovations are a product of listening to our clients and our people. They also reflect the vision of our team, including Cyber & Privacy partner Antony Kim, whom FT cites as one of the top ten Most Innovative Legal Practitioners in North America and Chief Talent Officer Siobhan Handley, selected as one of the top 5 Most Innovative Law Firm Business Leaders. 

Over the past five years, FT has named Orrick the Most Innovative Law Firm in North America three times and runner-up twice, including in 2020. This year’s Innovative Lawyers report highlights our focus on regulatory solutions, infrastructure modernization, building a more diverse and inclusive profession and developing the workplace of the future. 

This includes:

• The launch of Privacy in a Box -- a platform that enables companies to strategically manage data and optimize global privacy and security law compliance. A global team of partners led this initiative, including Heather Sussman, Shannon Yavorsky, Christian Schröder, Keily Blair and Tony Kim. In singling out Tony as an innovation leader, FT highlighted his vision “to scale the service to other practice areas, as part of a wider mission to create tech-based platforms that facilitate engagement with clients.”

• A better solution for financing affordable housing – through our collaboration with the California Housing Finance Agency on permanent supportive housing for the homeless in San Francisco. Our team was led by Justin Cooper and Steve Spitz.

• Standing up for racial justice and equity both in our communities and at our firm – including our launch of the Orrick Racial Justice Fellowship program and our use of bias interrupters, as a founding member of the Move the Needle Fund. These efforts are led by Siobhan and Duane Hughes, our Managing Director of Inclusion & Client Relations.

• Our 2020 summer program – a laboratory for new approaches to remote working. Our program was led by Siobhan, who was also cited for novel approaches to supporting caregivers this year. 

We congratulate all of our peers and in-house colleagues in this year’s report. To learn more about innovation in legal service delivery, please visit Orrick’s new platform: The Observatory.