Mayer Brown named by the Financial Times as one of Europe's most innovative law firms

Mayer Brown has been ranked as the 11th ‘Most Innovative Law Firm’ by the Financial Times in its 2023 ‘Most Innovative Lawyers: Europe Report’. The firm also won the award for the ‘Most Innovative Law Firm in Cyber Security & Data Protection’. 

The firm has been singled out for recognition in the following categories: 

Winner: Most Innovative law firm in Cyber Security & Data Protection: for advising Beazley PLC on the launch of the world’s first cyber catastrophe bond. Congratulations to Colin Scagell, Richard Spitzer and Niranjan Natarajan.

Standout: Technology: for building expertise in space and satellite law, creating a team that, in 2022, became the firm’s first global group focused on the industry, advising satellite companies such as OneWeb. Congratulations to Rachael O’ Grady and Paul Whitfield-Jones.

Commended: Deals and Financing: for advising world class energy company, Vaalco, on its strategic combination with Transglobe. The deal involved six jurisdictions across both developed and developing markets, five stock exchanges, three regulators and two accounting regimes, and was unparalleled in its complexity. Congratulations to Kate Ball-Dodd, Harriet Hainsworth, Alex Sperling, Niki Mehta, Oliver Williams , Georgia Stylianou, Rob Hamill and Bob Palmer.

Commended: Digital Solutions: a team in Germany created a time-saving risk management tool to help companies accurately classify direct employees and independent contractors. Congratulations to Hagen Köckeritz, Isabelle van Sambeck, and Pauline Stadler.

Commended: Supporting Refugees and Migrants: Mayer Brown and several other firms began working with charities Refugee Legal and Safe Passage to provide legal advice for Afghan refugees in different countries on the UK’s Arap resettlement schemes, following the overthrow of the Kabul regime by the Taliban in August 2021. Congratulations to Mehreen Malik and all teams involved.

Profiled: Innovative Practitioner: Joydeep Sengupta for developing a cross-border litigation and investigations practice in Paris serving financial institutions across multiple jurisdictions and innovating change within the legal profession.

The FT Innovative Lawyers Report: Europe is researched by RSGi and is now in its 18th year. The 2023 Report highlights the firms and in-house teams who are using innovative and pioneering approaches to deliver exceptional value to businesses and society. Submissions are independently researched and scored for originality, leadership and impact. They are then benchmarked against each other to arrive at the final rankings and shortlists.