As new types of legal professionals continue to emerge, the individuals featured here showcase the broad range of specializations at work in law firms. They include a forensic accountant, computer scientist, and management consultant, as well as attorneys who combine their legal education with other types of professional experience.
In a measure of how much specialists such as data scientists, cybersecurity experts and technologists are changing law firms, FT Award winner Paul Fontanot joined his law firm as an equity partner despite not being a lawyer.
Profiles compiled by RSGI researchers and FT editors. “Winner” indicates an Innovative Lawyers 2023 award, the others are in alphabetical order.
Winner: Paul Fontanot, partner, Clayton Utz
Forensic accountant Paul Fontanot joined Clayton Utz in 2017 to build its Forensic and Technology Services (FTS) team. The firm changed their deed of association to allow him to join as a stock partner while not being a lawyer.
He has since expanded an existing team of seven into a diverse practice of 150 professionals that includes data scientists, cybersecurity experts, and technologists.
The group works with the rest of the law firm to jointly advise clients on investigations and various technical issues, including how best to deal with cyber-attacks. They also develop the technology for the company’s other practices and customers. In addition, as an evangelist for the dissemination of data and technical skills in law, Fontanot has created training programs for all graduates interested in these sought-after skills.
Andrew Beasley, Regional Program Director, Innovation and Best Delivery Hub, Asia-Pacific, Clifford Chance
Andrew Beasley has developed a tool to show how lawyers spend their time on clients’ work in order to encourage the best use of the firm’s resources, including its low-cost delivery centers and automation technologies.
The “Time Storytelling Tool” analyzes time sheets and allows attorneys to view the data in a variety of ways. A ranking identifies the attorneys who perform clients’ work most efficiently. Over the past two years, the technology has reduced attorneys’ time by more than 18,000 hours and increased utilization of the firm’s delivery center in India by 30%, for jobs such as due diligence, document review, drafting previous forms and research. .
Beasley leads a team of technology, data science, and change management experts who work across the company to save business time, increase revenue, and improve work delivery.
Rohan Dias, special counsel, Lander & Rogers
In addition to providing specialized legal advice, construction attorney Rohan Dias works with clients to automate complex legal documents and processes. He recently led the automation of professional services agreements for a development and construction company in Australia.
The new method saves time and money, reduces errors, and captures valuable data. The technical approach goes beyond that previously used for simple legal documents to help generate contracts of greater complexity and value.
With a combined degree in law and physics, Dias combines his professional and scientific education with experience working as an in-house lawyer to design both the technical and legal elements of his solutions.
Komal Gupta, Chief Innovation Officer, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Since being hired to lead the implementation of an AI tool for document review, Komal Gupta has helped drive both technical and cultural change in the company.
A year after joining in 2017, she launched Vichaar, an annual ‘innovation week’ where lawyers and staff work to address challenges and deliver new ideas. One result is CamPlead, a time-saving database of the many documents used by courts across India that was developed and is now used in the company. Overall, the program has encouraged lawyers to think differently about how they work and use technology.
In 2019, he also launched Prarambh, a legal technology incubator. The firm supports Indian entrepreneurs and legal technology companies for six-month periods, providing expertise and mentoring to help them grow. Gupta studied law but began his career working in legal process outsourcing.
Arjuna Guruge, associate director, ediscovery and legal technology, Australia and Asia, Herbert Smith Freehills
A central part of Arjuna Guruge’s role is working directly with the firm’s clients to help generate new business.
In 2021, Guruge built a new service, initially for one of Australia’s big four banks, to host and manage its legal data. The firm hosts a central repository of data and documents that provides secure access to the client and any law firm or counsel employed by the client. In this way, the service reduces the risks in the transfer of sensitive data and helps customers respond quickly to investigations or regulatory disputes.
For the past decade, Guruge, a computer scientist by training, has also focused on bringing advanced technologies and analytics used in US investigations and litigation to Australia.
Shane Woodhouse, chief client officer, business consulting, DLA Piper
After more than two decades of running his own management consulting firm, Shane Woodhouse joined DLA Piper in 2021 with business partner Sean Faehrmann to create a consulting subsidiary.
Woodhouse worked with the firm’s attorneys and clients to identify areas where counseling and other professional expertise would be invaluable. As a result, they have developed an integrated mergers and acquisitions service, which guides clients through the entire course of a deal. The team also launched services covering environmental, social and governance topics to help advise clients on challenges such as managing ‘greenwashing’ reputational risk and improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
In two years, Woodhouse built a team of over 30 that generates revenue for the law firm.
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