Leading UK law firm Shoosmiths has scooped Legal Technology Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards at The Grosvenor, London on 30 September.

Feedback from independent judges said the firm had won because of successfully “combining a number of tools into its New How initiative”.

Shoosmiths’ award submission told of responding quickly to the pandemic by adopting new ways of working and capturing the willingness of its clients to do things differently.

On 1 May 2020 the firm launched the ‘New How’ initiative helping clients and the firm emerge successfully from the pandemic. Led by partners David Jackson and Tony Randle, the initiative offered an innovative suite of LegalTech products for clients, designed for smarter, faster and better working. Products included matters+ which revolutionises legal ops for in-house counsel and Cia® (Contract: Intelligent Analysis), an AI contract review tool. Both were designed by our lawyers after listening to clients’ needs around managing teams effectively and having key information quickly to hand.

The firm also told of partnering with established tech providers and adapting their tried and tested platforms, allowing Shoosmiths to bring legal sector knowledge and client insight to the fore, producing products which are user friendly, intuitive and designed to alleviate the problems clients are facing day-to-day.

Shoosmiths then demonstrated how the initiative evolved into something more permanent, by launching Shoosmiths⁸ Connected Services proposition in March this year, combining the latest technology with Shoosmiths’ passion for providing a great experience for clients across the business.

Partner, David Jackson, who spearheaded the New How initiative, commented: “To win this accolade really is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the many talented and innovative people across our business, the businesses we partner with and our clients who have been instrumental in the discussion, design, build and testing stages of these products.

“Listening to clients and being able to further anticipate their needs is in our DNA as a firm, and so now is innovation and tech. In addition to delivering an exceptional client experience, we are entrepreneurial, innovative and are committed to the adaption of new ideas and nurturing talent.

We’re proud of the recognition from Legal Business, which strongly relays our message to the market that Shoosmiths is pioneering and ambitious in the innovation and tech space.”

Partner and head of Shoosmiths⁸ Connected Services, Tony Randle, added: “It’s a thrill for our firm to have won this accolade – I believe it serves to show what can really be achieved when you have a passion for tech and the ability to really get under the skin of clients’ businesses.

“Our products in Shoosmiths⁸ Connected Services are game-changing and have the backing of GCs from companies that are household names. If in-house lawyers and GCs would like to work smarter, faster and better while saving time and money, we would urge them to consider our suite of products which have been designed by lawyers, for lawyers.”

Chairperson, Peter Duff, said: “Our strategic vision is to be the leading UK law firm, famous for our client experience. This award encapsulates that and demonstrates how we are taking our client experience to the next level. I’m proud that so many people across our business are involved in the ongoing development of new and existing products across our divisions and sectors.”

Shoosmiths was also shortlisted for Real Estate Team of the Year and Private Client Team of the Year, while client Scania, led by head of legal and compliance Sarah Holford, picked up Most Transformative Inhouse Team of the Year.