Pinsent Masons appoints Asia Pacific head of innovation and project delivery

Alison’s appointment will extend her consulting role, allowing her to further develop and enhance an innovative culture across Pinsent Masons’ Asia Pacific offices, and to pursue and develop strategic regional projects.

David Halliwell, firmwide Director of Knowledge and Innovation Delivery at Pinsent Masons, said, “There is a huge amount of enthusiasm for doing things differently across the firm, and our clients are keen to learn more about how we can help them solve their commercial challenges with a combination of people, process and our market-leading technology. Alison’s appointment to the new role will see us continuing to build out our already strong offering in innovation globally.”

Pinsent Masons has developed a significant reputation for innovation. Over the past year the firm has launched its freelance legal service, Vario, in Australia and acquired global diversity and inclusion consultancy Brook Graham. The firm also owns a stake in New Law business Yuzu, and has developed and successfully deployed its own proprietary artificial intelligence platform. Earlier this week the firm sold its majority stake in the compliance technology business Cerico to Dow Jones for an undisclosed sum.

With a career in the legal industry spanning more than a decade, Alison has worked in a range of operational, strategy and innovation roles, collaborating with partners and clients to develop innovative solutions, and assisting lawyers and in-house legal teams to adapt and evolve as the New Law world develops.

Commenting on her appointment, Laird said, “Pinsent Masons has a long track-record of innovating to help clients achieve their objectives and I'm delighted to officially join this forward-thinking firm. It's a great opportunity to collaborate, experiment, think differently and ultimately add value to the business and our clients through strategic innovation."

David Rennick, Head of Australia at Pinsent Masons, stated, “Alison has been a valued member of our team since she began contracting for us last year. We are thrilled Alison is joining the firm in an official capacity, and we look forward to seeing the changes she’ll continue to bring to our culture and the solutions we deliver for our clients.”

Alison will continue to practise Pinsent Masons’ agile working approach, regularly spending time in each of the firms' Asia Pacific offices while also working remotely from her base in the Melbourne office.