Hogan Lovells has hired former DLA Piper director Stephen Allen following his exit from the firm in March this year.
Allen was director of delivery and quality at DLA controlling a department of 100 staff responsible for operational initiatives. The team focused on pricing and profitability, flexible lawyering and innovations, including negotiating a relationship with Lawyers on Demand (LOD).
He will take up his role as Hogan Lovells head of legal services delivery in September, with a remit to bring together operations in legal project management and resource allocation such as the firm’s Birmingham legal services centre and its use of alumni and contract lawyers.
Prior to joining DLA in 2014, Allen was head of global legal services transformation at PwC, where he delivered projects such as legal sourcing deals for Balfour Beatty and EoN.
From 2009 to 2012, Allen was director of innovation at Berwin Leighton Paisner, establishing the firm’s Managed Legal Service unit, a multi-source legal platform to deliver greater efficiency and value for clients.
His time at DLA saw the firm highly commended at the Legal Business Awards 2016 for Legal Innovator of the Year. DLA launched its flexible working unit in 2015, an initiative driven by co-chief executive Simon Levine and Allen.
Working with LOD, the venture allows the firm to work with DLA alumni supported by LOD’s team of freelance contractors. Around 50 lawyers are expected to join by the end of 2016, supported by LOD’s pool of 400 lawyers.
Initially launched in the UK, the firm has since expanded its partnership with LOD into Asia-Pacific and Australia, launching in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Hong Kong and Singapore to create one of the world’s largest New Law ventures.
Hogan Lovells deputy chief operations officer Darren Mitchell said: ‘Stephen will have a global focus on ensuring that we are being innovative and that we are working as efficiently as possible, whilst maintaining the high quality that clients expect from Hogan Lovells.’
Allen added: ‘I will be looking to expand the team over time and to significantly develop what Hogan Lovells is already doing around legal project management and resource allocation.’
Hogan Lovells has made some recent pushes into legal innovation, developing its Regulatory Accelerator tool launched earlier this month for FinTech companies looking to navigate Financial Conduct Authority regulations.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
