A cognitive collaboration: Hogan Lovells and Cognia Law launch market-leading partnership

Under the agreement, which was signed in April, the firm can contract for a host of different services. For example, last month a collaboration between Hogan Lovells, Cognia Law and FTI Consulting saw the launch of a new LIBOR tool for financial institutions. It combats the significant legal and administrative challenge of dealing with LIBOR re-papering by combining legal expertise with legal project management, and advanced technology such as Nuix, Contract Express and Kira, to create a more cost-effective ‘one stop shop’ for clients preparing for the discontinuation of LIBOR post-2021.

The Cognia team serve as an extension of Hogan Lovells' legal delivery centre in Birmingham, providing further flexible resource capabilities.  The partnership further bolsters the firm's alternative delivery solutions offering, both in terms of scale and to deliver bespoke processes built for client needs.  The new model of delivery has already been successfully rolled out on real estate due diligences for the Munich office as well as on a number of litigious document reviews. Further joint services will be launched later in the year.

The partnership is being led by the firm's Global Head of Legal Operations, Stephen Allen, and Head of Alternative Delivery Solutions, Rachel Dabydoyal.

Rachel Dabydoyal said: "We are delighted to have joined forces with Cognia Law, not least because of our alignment in processes and quality but also because we are able to share best practices with each other to further enhance our alternative delivery offering – a true collaboration to drive efficiencies for our clients."

Stephen Allen added:  "The partnership is an extension to Hogan Lovells' alternative delivery platform which already includes options such as using lawyers in the Birmingham office and flexible lawyer service HL Elevate. Every client has an entirely different requirement so ensuring that we have the technology, tools and manpower to provide tailored solutions to every client is critical. The agreement with Cognia provides an important new dimension to this client offering."

Sharon Lewis, global head of the firm's Financial Institutions Sector at Hogan Lovells, said:  "This is one of a number of key collaborations that provide added value to our clients.  By using Cognia we can provide even more efficiency whilst maintaining the level of quality that our clients expect from Hogan Lovells.  Our ground-breaking LIBOR solution is a great example of the type of innovation we can deliver to clients through such partnerships such as this."

The firm has had an established relationship with Cognia for over four years – previously the law company has been providing consultancy and legal project management services on an ad hoc basis to the firm.

Janet Taylor-Hall, Cognia Law’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, added: “Genuine collaboration is easier said than done. That effort is worth it, however. Combining the top tier advisory capability of Hogan Lovells with Cognia’s ability to provide cost effective, tech-enabled solutions gives clients so much more. We believe that clients benefit most when they are able to leverage best of breed from law firms, law companies and tech providers."