MILLS & REEVE
The firm ’ s people-centric approach is something that Bradshaw adopted very early in his career . Since the team has grown from a 200 employee-strong workforce when he joined in 1998 , Bradshaw emphasises that the firm ’ s culture remains a key part of the way it operates .
Leaders drive the digital transformation journey Bradshaw is well placed to share the details of the firm ’ s digital transformation over the years . Since the late 90s , their digital landscape has evolved and looks vastly different today . Access to the internet was limited at the time and the IT infrastructure in place could be described as ‘ modest ’ with just two offices and three servers in each . The definition of a ‘ state-of-the-art ’ system in the 90s would be a CD tower with space for 20 discs , which were primarily used for storing legal reference information .
Fast-forward to the present day and Mills & Reeve has embraced technology , as digital transformation has run its course to facilitate staggering changes within the organisation .
“ We ’ ve just completed a huge document management system migration project . We ’ ve moved 90 million documents to the cloud , put in new enterprise search tools , and template management tools , and just launched a new intranet ”
DAVE BRADSHAW HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY , MILLS & REEVE
The IT team has grown in both headcount and capability as technology and innovation are key values to the firm . We ’ re expected to be on the front foot of the next technological development and how we can use it to offer real value to the firm and our clients ,” Bradshaw says .
“ We implemented server virtualisation quite early in the 2000s . We were very much desk-based , but forward-thinking in terms of going open plan and paperless , which other law firms weren ’ t doing at the time .”
In 2013 , Mills & Reeve ’ s Cambridge office moved to a larger premises in the UK , namely the imposing Botanic House building , where a radical change was introduced : the firm had fewer desks than employees , fostering a clear desk policy and hotdesking – unusual in an industry where personal offices were common . Later the firm implemented virtual desktop
296 January 2024