London—Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, has been named "Most Innovative Non UK-headquartered Firm" by The Lawyer at its 2016 Business Leadership Awards.  The Firm took home the honor for a series of innovative client service initiatives which are disrupting the legal profession, including Nextlaw Labs and the Nextlaw Global Referral Network. This award is the latest in a series of honors for Nextlaw Labs and the first award recognizing the Firm's recently launched Nextlaw Global Referral Network.

Commenting on the win Dentons’ global CEO Elliott Portnoy said, "A distinctive strength of Dentons is the alignment of our colleagues around a client-centred strategy of innovation and vision of transformation led by Joe Andrew, our Global Chairman. This recognition from The Lawyer, and the continued support of our clients, validates the strategy we are pursuing to become the law firm of the future right now.”

Global Chairman Joe Andrew said, "Dentons continues to set the pace in the global legal market by challenging the profession and innovating in client service delivery. But it is not only the ideas of Nextlaw Labs and Nextlaw Global Referral Network that make a difference, it is their execution and then their adoption by our lawyers and professionals. Under the leadership of our Global CEO Elliott Portnoy, we have made what was simply imagined now reality. That is true innovation.

"Nextlaw Labs last year put us at the forefront of creating and adopting the latest technologies available, and our clients are reaping the rewards of the investments we are making. With the launch of Nextlaw Global Referral Network, we continue to disrupt the status quo by creating the only free law firm referral network. Our network connects clients to the best lawyers for their needs around the globe."

Since its launch in 2015, Nextlaw Labs has made a series of investments and entered into a collaboration with artificial intelligence software company RAVN Systems.  Nextlaw Labs' first investment was in ROSS, an IBM Watson-powered legal advisor app that will streamline legal research, saving lawyers’ time and clients’ money. This was followed in March 2016 by an investment in Apperio, a legal tech start-up that is changing the way law firms handle matter management. Its most recent investment is in Doxly, a transaction management platform that brings efficiency, transparency and order to complex business transactions. In July 2016, Nextlaw Labs announced a collaboration with RAVN Systems to create a technology that reviews high volumes of contract documentation to identify provisions that could potentially be impacted by the UK's secession from the EU.

In May 2016, Dentons announced the launch of its Nextlaw Global Referral Network, which enables member law firms to easily connect and track referrals via an online platform.  With free membership, the ability to have multiple firms with differing strengths in any city, and a technology platform that promotes reciprocal repeat referrals, Nextlaw Global Referral Network's goal is to become the largest network of quality legal talent in the world.

The Lawyer's Business Leadership award win follows Dentons' win at the Legal Week Innovation Awards for "International Law Firm Innovation" in May 2016, and the Financial Times' recognition of Dentons as the “Most Innovative North American Law Firm” in late 2015.

The Lawyer's Business Leadership Awards 2016 took place in London on 28 September 2016.

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