Ahead of 2018 The Lawyer Awards in association with Travelers, Dentons UK and Middle East CEO Jeremy Cohen talks to The Lawyer about the impact of winning International Law Firm of the Year last year.
What were the initiatives that led you to win International Law Firm of the Year?
During the previous year we had consolidated our position as the world’s largest law firm by expanding into new markets such as Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Netherlands, Guatemala and Panama.
This enhanced our ability to offer clients the benefit of quality experience wherever they want to do business or resolve a dispute – from Canada and the US, across Europe the Middle East and Africa, to the Asia-Pacific region.
We also secured positions in the top tier of some of the most closely watched rankings in the legal profession: second in the global BTI Client Service A-Team Survey; among the top 10 firms most favoured by clients for work in the Acritas Global Elite Brand Index; The Lawyer’s most successful firm in court for FTSE-100 clients in the UK; and one of the US’s ‘Fearsome Foursome’ for litigation.
What did it mean for you to win the award last year?
Our UK strategy is designed to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the firm’s global platform, by building stronger ties with existing key clients and developing further key clients; innovation and developing a quality lower cost platform; and significantly growing our share of the UK legal market. Winning the award was pleasing because it was external recognition of the success of this strategy, and particularly the step-change in our ability to service clients on cross-border matters while delivering a quality service in new and inventive ways.
How did winning affect staff morale?
Dentons is a firm that has experienced significant change over the past few years – but standing still is never easy and leads to increased expectations of people at all levels of the firm. This is the most significant award that Dentons has won for many years, and it was a big morale-booster for the thousands of people around the world who have contributed to our success.
What reaction did you have from your clients?
One of our objectives as a firm is to go ‘from largest to leading’ – not only do we want to offer clients the exact right lawyer in the exact right location for any challenge they may face, but we also want to offer them the best lawyers in each of those places. Winning such a prestigious award against strong competition has really helped us to reinforce that message.
Why did you choose to attend the awards ceremony and what were your views on the night itself?
It’s always nice to catch up with other lawyers we work with on deals and cases – and several of our clients were also up for awards so it was good to be able to share their success. Naturally we enjoyed the evening, coming away with one of the top awards!
Are you looking forward to the awards in June, and why do you think it’s important to attend industry events like this?
The UK is one of the world’s top legal markets, and The Lawyer has a global readership. This is one of the flagship events in the legal calendar and it is important for us to support it.
The Lawyer Awards ceremony will take place on the evening of Tuesday 26th June 2018 at the iconic Grosvenor House Hotel in the heart of London’s Mayfair. Don’t miss out on being amongst the industry elite at what promises to be the largest celebration of legal excellence in Europe and book your table here: www.thelawyerawards.com
