Financial Times Again Honors Dechert for Multiple Innovations in Europe

Dechert and its lawyers have once again been recognized for creativity and fresh thinking in the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers Awards for Europe, which honors lawyers and firms that have made a critical contribution to transforming their clients’ businesses.

This year, Dechert teams earned the following recognitions:

WINNER (with "STANDOUT" status) – in the “Innovation in Unlocking Capital” category, for driving the development of a private credit CLO market in Europe. Since advising Barings on the structuring and launch of Europe’s inaugural private credit CLO in 2024, global finance partners Aaron Scott and Christopher Duerden have led a sequential program of market-first transactions, creating a coherent and cumulative body of structural innovation within Europe’s structured finance industry. Aaron Scott was personally commended by the FT.

COMMENDED – in the “Innovation in Digital Tools” category, for the development of Reporter, an AI-driven deal management system created by Dechert’s Innovation Team and a team of London-based private funds lawyers led by private funds co-leader, Gus Black. Integrated within Outlook, Reporter extracts key developments from email streams, automatically updating project plans and checklists, producing significant time savings on project management tasks.

In the firmwide rankings, Dechert itself was again recognized among the FT25 Most Innovative Law Firms in Europe, a scored ranking based on surveys of firms' innovation, digital maturity, policies towards people and social responsibility.

The Financial Times consistently ranks Dechert among the most innovative law firms in the world and recently ranked the firm among its Top 20 "Most Innovative Global Law Firms" of the past 20 years. 

Lawyers and law firms recognized by the FT were honored in a ceremony held at London’s Natural History Museum on September 24.

About Dechert

Dechert is the law firm that helps business leaders lead.

For more than 150 years, we have advised clients on critical issues — from high-stakes litigation to first-in-market transaction structures and complex regulatory matters. Our nearly 1,000 lawyers in commercial centers worldwide are immersed in the key sectors we serve — financial services, private capital, real estate, life sciences and technology.

Dechert delivers unwavering partnership so our clients can achieve unprecedented results.