FT Asia Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2021 open for submissions

The year 2020 was a test of whether law firms and businesses could be resilient; 2021 will be a test of whether they are sustainable.

While vaccines are on the horizon, business and wider society still have many months to wait before a sense of “normal” returns. But innovative lawyers are already working to help ensure that the world does not go back to the old way of doing things and instead uses disruption to accelerate developments and tackle challenges ranging from geopolitical uncertainty to climate change.

The FT Innovative Lawyers programme has evolved along with everything else — because we had to, but also because the profession has changed so much since the programme started more than 15 years ago. The 2021 report will contain fewer categories than in the past in order to dedicate more editorial space to exploring topical questions, critical trends and the future of the industry. We will also use surveys on data and technology and the practice of law to supplement our research.

The FT Innovative Lawyers Asia Pacific awards event will be virtual. It will be broadcast live featuring panels of industry leaders exploring how the profession has changed over the past year.

Submissions

Private practice categories:

Law firms are invited to make up to five submissions over four categories. In addition to assessing these, the research team will use surveys on data and technology and the practice of law as well as interviews to conduct research with people at the firm and with clients. The method for compiling the overall list of “most innovative law firms” that appears in each report will change. As well as using an aggregated score of entries submitted to individual categories, the list will be compiled based on a short questionnaire about the firm’s use of technology and data. The questionnaire will be shared with all submitting firms after the submissions deadline. All surveys are confidential and answers will be anonymised.

The practice of law: submissions are invited from an individual legal practitioner or team of practitioners working in any legal practice area who can show how their practice of law has changed. Submissions should describe a team or individual who are innovating in the practice of law, with specific case study examples. The submissions should show how lawyers have crossed professional sector boundaries, created new standards, delivered outstanding outcomes for clients or created new practice areas, with originality and impact. (Two submissions per firm)

Individual leaders: submissions are invited for individuals who are leading firms, practices, innovation, people — essentially, individuals leading change at the firm. They must show a track record of innovation and impact within their organisations, whether through improving growth and financial performance, diversity and inclusion, or driving digital transformation. (One individual per firm)

People and skills: submissions are invited from law firms that describe ways in which working culture and practices have changed beyond the immediate response to the pandemic. Submissions are invited from law firms that are rethinking workplaces, how they work, or the way they recruit, train, and develop their staff. (One submission per firm)

Social justice, inclusion and diversity: submissions are invited that detail innovative ways in which firms are addressing challenges of social injustice or social inequality, including inclusion and diversity initiatives. (One submission per firm)

Corporate law department categories:

In-house teams are invited to make one submission to each of the following four categories. Please also include contact details for the general counsel and a commercial reference who can be made available for interview.

Strategic and risk advisers: this includes cases where the general counsel and legal function have partnered with the business to give commercial and strategic advice that has significantly enhanced the organisation, including pre-empting problems and securing the business from threats. (One submission per company)

Operational management: ways in which legal operations have been transformed or enhanced, particularly through better processes or an improved use of technology and data. (One submission per company)

People and skills: ways in which working culture and practices have changed beyond the immediate response to the pandemic, including rethinking workplaces, how people work, or the way the business recruits, trains, and progresses its staff. This can relate specifically to the legal team, or the role the legal team is playing in helping the business adapt to new ways of working. (One submission per company)

ESG, social justice, and inclusion and diversity: submissions are invited that detail innovative ways in which legal teams are helping their businesses and industries meet environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. Submissions are also invited on initiatives to address challenges of social injustice or social inequality. (One submission per company)

How the report and the awards are assessed

The report will feature a selection of the best submissions received, along with articles based on surveys and other qualitative research methods.

The submission deadline is Monday, February 22, 2021. The research process will run from February to May. The report will be published with the Financial Times newspaper on Friday, May 14, 2021, and a virtual awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

There is no cost for submitting entries but the project will be subject to the terms and conditions outlined in detail below.

The research partner for the FT Innovative Lawyers programme is RSG Consulting, a specialist research and consulting company with decades of experience analysing the legal industry.

The FT Innovative Lawyers programme is supported globally by lead partner Integra Ledger and partners Thomson Reuters and iManage. The in-house legal team research is supported by Allen & Overy.

How to submit entries

All submissions must be made via the online submissions form.

PLEASE NOTE: You will first need to register an account before you can access the submissions website. To register an account, follow the link to the submissions form, or email ftresearch@rsgconsulting.com to request login details.

Submission format

All private practice law firm submissions must provide the following details and address the criteria set out below. Please note that word limits are enforced in the online entry forms.

The challenge: What commercial problem or business issue is being solved? (75 word limit)

Description of the innovation: A brief description of the individual, team or initiative. (75 word limit)

Originality: Why is the individual, team or initiative innovative? Which elements are most original? (200 word limit)

Leadership: What role did the lawyers, firm, individual or legal department play? For which aspects of the solution, approach, or implementation were the lawyers responsible? How did you arrive at the specific approach or solution that was finally adopted? (200 word limit)

Impact: What was the impact of the innovation for the client, firm or key stakeholders? How can its success be measured? Where did the lawyers deliver the most value? Please include hard evidence. (200 word limit)

References: All submissions must include contact details for at least one internal and at least one client or other external reference who can be contacted to discuss the details of the innovation on a confidential basis.

Rules for submitting

Time period: the 2021 ranking will assess innovations instituted from January 1, 2020 onwards.

Submissions must be no longer than 750 words in total, written in English and answer each of the questions on the entry form.

Assessment of submissions

Submissions will be fully researched and will be assessed on their own merits. The RSG Consulting research team also uses independent experts in the assessment process. Entries will be judged against other submissions in each category.

Innovations and innovators will be scored for their originality, leadership and impact out of a total of 30 points.

Client references are a critical part of the assessment process. Contact details for internal and client or external referees must be included on every submission.

All submissions are assessed by RSG Consulting, a specialist legal-market research company that uses a process of interviews with clients, submitting lawyers and experts. The submissions are then scored against a bespoke ranking methodology, devised for the FT to assess innovation in law firms.

The rankings will be based primarily on submissions received but will also include fresh research, surveys and other qualitative research methods to uncover legal innovation in the region.

Assessment criteria will be based on local norms and benchmarks of innovation.

Awards and report schedule

February 22, 2021 — deadline for submissions

April 2021 — awards shortlists revealed

May 13, 2021 — online awards event

May 14, 2021 — report publication on FT.com and with the Financial Times newspaper

Contact details

For research questions please contact RSG Consulting on +44 (0)20 7831 0300, ftresearch@rsgconsulting.com.

For editorial inquiries please contact Harriet Arnold at the FT at harriet.arnold@ft.com (please put FTILNA in the subject field).

For advertising opportunities or other research sponsorship opportunities please contact Robert Grange, global franchise development director and head of special reports at the FT, robert.grange@ft.com or +44 (0)20 7873 4418; or Alex Roszkowski, account manager, legal, at the FT alex.roszkowski@ft.com

For inquiries about the awards event, please contact abigail.lewis@ft.com

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

There is no fee for entering submissions to FT Asia-Pacific innovative Lawyers 2021.

The researchers reserve the right to move entries from one category to another if they feel it appropriate. The researchers’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

The FT and RSG Consulting accept no responsibility for the loss or damage of material submitted.

The FT reserves the right to publish the names of the firm or lawyers contained in the shortlist of outstanding entries, details and description of all entries and details of winners. All entrants grant the FT a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to publish details and descriptions of entries as referred to, and also agree to participate in publicity reasonably requested by the FT regarding their entry. The FT acknowledges that copyright in all entries remains vested with the entrants.

If you are shortlisted for, or win, an award, then the FT may at its discretion allow you to use the relevant FT Innovative Lawyers logo on your marketing materials. You acknowledge that FT is the owner of the logo and all related goodwill and agree that your use of the logo must be in accordance with any applicable FT branding guidelines in force from time to time or any instructions from the FT, that you will not use it as part of a composite mark or logo, and you will not use it in a manner which causes or is likely to cause confusion or a misleading association between your business and the FT, or damage to FT’s goodwill or reputation, or to the validity of any FT trademark. FT may terminate your right to use the logo at any time.

Please do not include any confidential information in your entry that you do not wish to enter the public domain because the FT is unable to guarantee that such information will not be published as set out above. Any inclusion of confidential information in an entry is at the entrant’s sole risk and responsibility and in knowledge of the FT’s request not to do so.

The FT reserves the right to cancel, postpone or suspend FT Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2021 at any time and to exclude any entries which it considers are inappropriate or do not comply with these terms and conditions. False or deceptive entries will render the entrant ineligible and such entries will be discarded.

The FT and RSG Consulting cannot accept responsibility for, or liability arising from, entrants taking part in the awards. To the fullest extent permissible by law, the FT and RSG Consulting exclude liability for all loss, damage or claim arising as a result of your entry to FT Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2021.

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Disputes arising in connection with the awards shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

By submitting an entry, entrants will be deemed to have read, understood and agreed to these terms and conditions on behalf of their firm or organisation.

The submitter warrants that it has obtained all necessary consents required under applicable data protection and privacy laws to allow the sharing of any personal data contained in the submission with the FT. Contact information will only be used for the purposes of assessing each submission and will be processed in accordance with our privacy policy.