Freshfields wins Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe award

Standout for Digital Tools: Legal Work

Highly commended for Responsible Business

Global law firm Freshfields has been recognised as the Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2026 for the second consecutive year. Hosted last night at the Natural History Museum in London, the awards recognised the firm’s work across multiple areas, assessed against four metrics: innovation, digital, people and social responsibility.

Freshfields was recognised as a standout firm for developing an AI-assisted document review system for ongoing mass litigation in Germany. Two AI systems independently checked more than 180,000 documents for legal flaws, with lawyers intervening only when issues or discrepancies were flagged.

Freshfields was highly commended for supporting Asylum Aid’s successful challenge to 2024 UK immigration rules that would have made family reunification harder for stateless people. The firm contributed more than 2,500 pro bono hours, helping establish that the reform would harm children’s welfare.

Freshfields partner and co-head of Freshfields Lab Lukas Treichl was shortlisted for driving AI adoption, developing the firm’s proprietary AI Toolkit and helping shape its collaboration with Anthropic on legal AI tools.

The awards celebrate the most innovative work by law firms and in-house legal teams across Europe, recognising excellence in digital innovation, strategic advice, talent management and efforts to drive positive change across the profession.

The FT law firm index Europe 2025 placed Freshfields first out of the top 50 participating firms.

Freshfields Senior Partner Georgia Dawson commented: “Being named Europe’s Most Innovative Law Firm for a second consecutive year is testament to the ingenuity and dedication of our colleagues across Freshfields. Innovation is central to how we support our clients, invest in our people and deliver meaningful change, and we remain committed to advancing new ideas and technologies that help clients address their most complex issues.”