Digital Transformation – Extending Strategic Service Advantage

Derek leads the firm in relation to innovation and digital and a range of related areas such as knowledge management and futures.

Derek has 20 years’ experience both within the business and with our clients of developing strategies and implementing a range of business improvement projects relating to technology, compliance, risk, and productivity. Derek has worked with many of the world’s leading in house teams from the very smallest to some of the largest. This work has covered a wide range of areas including document and e mail management, knowledge management, financial management, procurement, operational and resourcing strategies, demand management, KPIs, delivery models, AI and emerging technologies and more.

Derek was ranked as one of the top three most innovative lawyers in the UK in the FT’s first study into the UK market and the firm have won numerous awards for their use of technology including the Legal Business Technology Team of the Year 2015.

Gowling WLG are a large international sector focussed law firm with 18 offices in 10 countries.

In 2016 Gowling WLG were ranked by the FT as the second most innovative law firm in Europe.

Dr Stacy Sinclair is a Partner and Head of Technology & Innovation at Fenwick Elliott LLP, the UK’s largest, specialist construction and energy law firm.  Stacy leads Fenwick Elliott’s technology and innovation initiatives:  overseeing the development and implementation of new legal technologies, as well as collaborating and engaging with clients on new digital technologies in the construction and legal industries.  She is responsible for IT & infrastructure, internal tech operations, platforms, workflows and external client initiatives and products.

Prior to her current role, Stacy practised as construction lawyer, advising on both contentious and non-contentious issues.  Before law, Stacy practised as an Architect, principally designing large-scale projects such as stadiums, hospitals and education buildings in both the UK and the USA. This dual-qualification and experience in the construction industry provides a unique expertise and platform for advising on technical issues and the digital transformation of both the construction and legal industries

Adrian Cambridge is a highly experienced IT leader with over 26 years’ experience 11 of which in legal. Adrian is the Global Head of IT Operations for law firm HFW which has 19 offices worldwide. Before working in the legal sector, he was an IT consultant for an IBM business partner working across many industry verticals.

Adrian has worked for law firms Mischon de Reya (in the UK) and Simmons & Simmons and Latham and Watkins in the Middle East. For the last five years he was Head of IT for a local holding company based in Abu Dhabi and part of a team that built four diverse companies from the ground up, designing and implementing their technology offerings. As a member of the management team for each company Adrian gained a more commercial approach to IT service delivery, often being called on to assist with company day-to-day operations, marketing, and contributing to the long term strategy of each company. He was also tasked with delivering commercial, innovative IT solutions for clients based in the UAE and the Maldives.

In August 2019 Adrian joined HFW to head up the global operations team based in the London office. Working closely with the IT Director, he has been tasked with transforming the IT department, systems and support at HFW with a push towards cloud and infrastructure as a service. The firm has demanded a more agile approach that provides the best IT facilities and working environment for employees, allowing HFW to give their clients the highest quality service. Adrian is helping to design IT systems and solutions that are both fit for purpose and commercially viable and allows HFW to interact more closely with clients. A challenge he is relishing.

Nige Tranter leads Orrick’s strategy to harness the power of data, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence to add value for clients and enhance business processes.
Specifically, Nige is focused on four questions:

• How can we continually improve our use of data, providing sophisticated analytics, insights and data-driven decision making?
• How can we use AI to support the business?
• How do we adapt to the digital workplace, continuing to evolve and embed emerging digital capabilities in conjunction with increasing digital skills for our team?
• How can we reimagine existing business processes, ensuring they are optimized and fit for purpose?

He collaborates closely with Orrick’s Chief Innovation Officer Wendy Curtis, Chief Technology Officer Justin Graham and the firm’s leadership to answer these questions and deploy solutions.

Nige is a seasoned technology and innovation leader. He draws on extensive experience in the financial sector, including serving for four years as Chief Information Officer at Gulf Bank in Kuwait and for 10 years as the Chief Architect for EMEA at Barclays. He also served as Chief Technology Officer at Pinsent Masons.

Nige serves on several legal technology advisory boards and is a judge for the British Legal Technology Awards, an accredited One Million Mentor and an ambassador for Stemnet in the UK.