Financial Times ranked McGuireWoods No. 1 for Talent, Strategy & Changing Behaviors, No. 2 for the business of law and No. 7 overall in its 2019 North America Innovative Lawyers report, with the firm continuing its powerhouse showing as a top innovator for pioneering creative solutions to meet client needs.
FT recognized the firm six times in the following categories: Talent, Strategy & Changing Behaviors; Enabling Business Growth & Transformation; Rule of Law & Access to Justice; and Technology & Data.
To compile the report, FT research partner RSG Consulting evaluated more than 350 submissions from law firms, legal services providers and in-house legal teams and conducted hundreds of interviews with clients, lawyers, executives and experts. This marks the fourth consecutive year FT has honored McGuireWoods as one of North America’s 10 most innovative law firms.
The firm placed No. 1 in the Talent, Strategy & Changing Behaviors Category for its “inclusive and transparent approach to its five-year strategic plan.” FT individually commended McGuireWoods Chairman Jonathan Harmon for his role creating and launching the plan.
Debuting at McGuireWoods’ annual Partnership Meeting and quickly disseminated to the entire firm, the two-page plan distilled more than a year’s worth of brainstorming and insights into high-impact presentations that brought the firm’s strategy to life.
“Everyone at McGuireWoods plays an important role implementing our strategic plan to become a national powerhouse and we wanted to communicate that in new ways visually and graphically so it’s top of mind firmwide,” said Harmon. “We’re honored that Financial Times has recognized our continued commitment to innovative thinking.”
McGuireWoods also was honored for other innovations:
- using data analytics to enhance recruitment of talented lawyers while ensuring candidates thrive at McGuireWoods and in the legal profession;
- providing a one-of-a-kind suite of transactional, regulatory, litigation, government relations and grassroots advocacy efforts to secure approval for Dominion Energy’s $13.4 billion merger with SCANA and winning a related 4th Circuit case that affects the entire M&A litigation landscape;
- efforts to halt Virginia’s unconstitutional practice of automatically suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay court fines and costs;
- helping pass the HAVEN Act, reversing an inequity in the law that harmed service members facing financial distress; and building an algorithm that can analyze thousands of documents to determine potential settlement payments in class actions and challenge class certification.