3 July 2026
Contributor: Paul Donald
30 June 2026
Contributors:
Iain Drummond, Alejandro Coghill
Browse our articles, insights and guides.
We never stop looking for ways to improve our service to clients and to work more effectively.
Our Smarter Working team includes experts in process, automation, technology, data and knowledge. They explore improving the way we work, either day-to-day or when addressing a particular project; providing a better service to our clients; and ensuring that both we and they have necessary the data and insights make good commercial decisions.
We divide this work into six core areas.
Most of our teams have at least a few types of work that crop up frequently. We take a step back and think imaginatively about how we can streamline processes and allocate each individual task to best effect. Then we look at how we can use technology creatively to further enhance that process. That might involve producing documents more quickly and consistently, making collaboration easier, improving tracking and management information… anything that improves the end result, our client service, or both.
We don’t just look at recurring business-as-usual work. The firm often undertakes projects that require us to design a bespoke process – such as those that involve reviewing and managing a large number of documents, for example. We’ll use our process and technological skills to ensure that the task is completed quickly, efficiently, transparently, and with minimum risk. This might involve using existing tools, and possibly also finding ways to get them to work together effectively. Or, in some cases, building new ones.
We also work with our Finance, HR, Marketing and all other non-legal teams to help them work more efficiently. A key aspect of this is often to ensure that everyone always has exactly the information they need, when they need it.
As for any large commercial law firm, managing data and reporting on it is a business-critical aspect of our work. We’re always looking for ways to do those things better. That means both looking out for new tools that could help us, and also making sure that everyone in the firm knows how to use our existing ones to best effect. To give just one example, many clients highly value being able to access a portal that gives them a very up-to-date picture of financials, work in progress, and other key information.
Some of our work in this area is highly practical: identifying problems, developing solutions, and rolling them out throughout the firm. But much of it is more intangible. Scanning the horizon and anticipating future opportunities and threats, for example. And helping to embed smarter working values – such as creativity and a willingness to challenge orthodoxy – in the firm’s culture.
To guide our firm into the future, the Partnership Board needs to consider sector-scale changes such as generative AI. We help them to strategise, and to plan the ways in which will adapt to and fully exploit such developments. And all of this is equally true for our clients. The pace of technological change is ever-increasing: we ensure that neither the firm nor our clients will fall behind.
Key Contacts
Head of Technology
Head of Knowledge & Service Delivery
Key Contacts
Head of Technology
Head of Knowledge & Service Delivery
There’s much more to Smarter Working than we have space for here. If you’d like to discuss the subject further, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our key contacts.
