Bird & Bird is delighted to announce that we won the 'Innovation in legal expertise: Creating a new standard' category at the 2018 Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe Awards, held last night in London.
The FT Innovative Lawyers are unique awards and rankings that assess lawyers and firms on their innovation for clients and in their own businesses. The results are based on independent research carried out by RSG Consulting and robust journalism from the FT.
Bird & Bird's winning submission, Advising the IOC on Transgender Rules, was led by partner Jonathan Taylor QC and also involved Elizabeth Riley, who has since joined the International Paralympic Committee as legal counsel. Their advice helped the IOC replace its 2003 ‘Stockholm Consensus’ with new Transgender Guidelines, which will ensure that trans-athletes are treated with dignity and fairly. This confirms Bird & Bird's reputation for being pioneers in sports law.
In the FT Innovative Lawyers Europe 2018 report, launched at the awards ceremony, Bird & Bird achieved an overall ranking of 5th. This significant achievement is the result of the very strong range of submissions put forward from the firm's offices across Europe. Other commendations include:
CEO David Kerr, who attended the event at the Natural History Museum alongside other members of the firm, as well as Robin Ststizing from Key Client Nokia, said of our success “It is a testament to the innovative approach we take as a firm, both across Europe and internationally. We know our clients and the wider market have really taken notice of the fantastic innovations coming out of Bird & Bird this year, and that this puts us in a strong position in a legal market dominated by debate around legal service delivery. Congratulations to all those involved in both the winning entry and to everyone who put submissions forward for these, which we, the legal market and our clients hold in extremely high regard.”
View the FT Innovative Lawyers Europe 2018 report online here.
