International Legal Technology Association Distinguished Peer Award 2011

Bryan Cave has earned a 2011 Distinguished Peer Award in the “Most Innovative Firm” category from the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). ILTA’s Distinguished Peer Award program provides a forum for peer-nominated, peer-judged innovations in law firm technology.

“This award arises out of Bryan Cave’s ‘structural’ approach to innovation and to a series of innovations flowing from our Client Technology Group, Practice Economics Group and Accelerated Review Team – an approach to innovation that mirrors the R&D functions found in the best global companies,” said John Alber, Bryan Cave’s St. Louis-based strategic technology partner. “As a consequence of this structural approach to innovation, we have been able to develop client-focused solutions on a broad front and bring many more such innovations to market than is typical, even in large global law firms.”

ILTA’s Distinguished Peer Award program honors the achievements of those members making technology work for clients and the legal profession. The program recognizes firms that deliver business value and “transformational impact” through innovations and implementations or have been champions in specific areas of focus for their organizations.

Bryan Cave was honored for its three-pronged approach to developing and delivering new technologies to clients.

The firm first began a planned approach to innovation with the formation of its Client Technology (CT) Group in 2003. That group was charged with research into new technologies and development of technology-augmented solutions that would help deliver improved, more cost-effective service to clients.

The Accelerated Review Team (ART) was created to forge new, technology-leveraged staffing approaches to some of the most significant components of legal spend facing Bryan Cave clients.

The Practice Economics Group (PEG) was created to develop a new generation of tools and techniques to enhance Bryan Cave’s ability to price projects accurately and competitively and to manage those projects to completion on budget and on schedule.

“Bryan Cave’s approach to innovation arises out of its extraordinary focus on client relationships,” Alber said. “In most quarters, saying you’re ‘relationship-based’ is just marketing talk. At Bryan Cave, it’s a core value and that drives an ongoing search for new ways to partner with and serve our clients.”

This was the second year for ILTA’s annual awards program, which took place Aug. 25 in conjunction with the group’s annual educational conference, held in Nashville, Tenn. Click here for more information on ILTA’s Distinguished Peer Award program.