Mishcon De Reya

Where is Mishcon De Reya located?

In the UK: London, Cambridge, Oxford

Overseas: Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, Middle-East

In November, Mishcon expanded its international footprint to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

What stood out to you about Mishcon’s innovation?

They embrace AI, using it as a new frontier to their business, rather than a threat.

Every tool, workflow and platform is grounded in deep legal expertise.

• First firm to launch an in house e discovery business (MDR Discover) 

• First law firm to launch a legal technology incubator (MDR LAB)

• They have a house AI platform, deReyAI

How does the firm use AI to improve client experience?

AI-enabled portals that give clients access to key matter information

Automated tools to accelerate early drafts, deliver time savings and mitigate risks

Due diligence and drafting across real estate, corporate and commercial transactions using Orbital, Legora, DraftWise to accelerate drafting.

Technology-enabled document disclosure giving lawyers the ability to assess the case sooner and unlock additional insight

What are the values of the firm?

Excellence

• They provide clients with the best-in-class legal and professional services, driven by an entrepreneurial, tenacious and socially conscious spirit 

Empowerment

• To foster a culture which thrives on diversity, respect for the individual, mutual responsibility and the expression of talent

• They inspire and empower individuals to fulfil their aspirations, both in and outside of their careers

Innovative thinking

• To be open and to drive the development of new ideas, to think creatively and challenge the status quo

• To seek out innovative solutions neither bound by formality nor strained by convention

Generosity of spirit

• To act with authenticity, clarity and integrity in all our dealings, placing the highest value on generosity of spirit, collaboration, mutual support and collective success

Legacy 

• To build a profitable and sustainable business that makes a positive impact on the world around us, which the partners hold as trustees for every single member of the firm 

What is their catchphrase?

It’s business. But its personal.

What they do has always been shaped by understanding and anticipating the needs, aims and ambitions of their clients. They embrace change, stay relevant and shape the future. They emphasise the importance of understanding the wider world in order to give the best legal advice - law is no longer practiced in isolation. Clients expect nuanced, multi-dimensional and interpretive advice.

What are their 3 main sectors?

1. The Innovation Economy

2. Private Wealth and Capital

3. Real Estate

What is their expertise?

They are known as the disputes powerhouse, with a formidable firmwide capacity for dispute resolution.

They have one of the largest and most experienced dispute resolution teams in London - over half the firm’s lawyers are litigators.

• Disputes are becoming increasingly complex, international and multi-faceted so clients require flexibility, agility and a range of tools to tackle any situation

• They are inventive, resourceful and broad-minded 

• Deploy empathy as well as assertiveness

• Disputes capability: commercial, property, IP and tech, employment, private individuals, fraud and investigations

What is the Mishcon de Reya Group?

Consists of: MDR Discover, MDRi, MDR Lab, MDR Mayfair and MDR One

What is MDR Discover?

An eDiscovery and document-review service run by eDiscovery experts who all have experience working in law firms.

• Uses predictive coding/ technology-assisted review to identify documents likely to be relevant 

• Helps lawyers review and classify documents rather than requiring them to manually examine millions 

• It works side by side on matters with lawyers and is involved in the disclosure process

What is MDRi?

• Team of insights and analytics experts collect and analyse data about markets, industries and consumer behaviours to help businesses thrive

• Turn insights into actionable strategies that drive above-market growth for their clients and help them understand consumer behaviour, mitigate risks, develop creative solutions.

What is MDR Lab?

They incubate and invest in early stage legaltech companies and help them build their product.

They aim to drive change in the legal industry by bridging the gap between law and technology.

Very tech-friendly law firm - more than a law firm - embracing new technologies. Shows their cooperative and helpful culture. Shows they are focused on improving HOW law is practiced as well as the outcomes - they are focused on the processes! - wide outlook

What is Mishcon Purpose?

Their dedicated environmental, social and governance and sustainability practice.

It combines lawyers and sustainability consultants to help clients to assess where they are exposed to risk, to identify opportunities to strengthen resilience, and to transform with confidence.

• They advise corporates and private interests on evolving ESG risks and opportunities

• They litigate on behalf of communities suffering human rights infringements and environmental harms to obtain access to justice and drive systemic change

• They draft novel frameworks including development of new market mechanism for enhancing natural and social capital

Mischon Community Engagement

Long standing pro bono partnership with Queen Mary University of London and their legal advice centre with initiatives including: 

Black justice project 

• Free legal advice for members of the black community on employment discrimination, actions against police and immigration matters

Pink law

• Free legal advice to supervising students from Queen Mary University of London to members of the LGBT+ community on discrimination, immigration and family matters

SPITE

• SPITE provides victims of revenge porn with specialist free legal advice on matters of criminal law, civil law, privacy law, family law and practical advice

• Lawyers and law students work closely with the Revenge Porn Helpline to ensure that clients have full assistance in removing images which are posted online

Volunteer for RCJ Advice Bureau, London’s largest Citizen’s Advice Bureau, providing free advice to LIPs and civil and family courts

Recent deals: Advising Mirae

Mishcon de Reya advises AI-driven continuous caste platform Mirae on its $5.4 million funding round, led by Oxford Science Enterprises

• Mirae is a Uni of Oxford spinout built on research from the University’s Computational Health Informatics Lab

• The funding will help Mirae launch and further develop its platform

• Mirae aims to improve access to consistent, data-driven care for people with complex chronic conditions
  
  

The deal demonstrates Mishcon’s continued involvement in Oxford’s technology and funding market

Mishcon highlights Oxford as a global hub for innovation, combining scientific talent and specialist facilities to attract investment

Recent deals: advising Lucida Medical

Mishcon de Reya advises Lucida Medical on its £8.85 million series A investment round to advance the development of life changing cancer technology 

Lucida Medical uses patented AI to help clinicals interpret prostate MRI scans more quickly and accurately

• Its technology is already being used across parts of the NHS and its particularly useful because of workforce pressures and a national shortage of clinical radiologists 

• The funding will be used to improve the diagnostic solution and support its wider rollout across healthcare settings

• The technology can reduce scan analysis times from weeks to minutes 

The matter demonstrates Mishcon’s involvement in AI, healthcare, technology and high-growth businesses, as well as its role in supporting companies.

Nigeria case in dispute resolution

Nigeria: Overcoming 4% success rate for a landmark victory  

• Mishcon de Reya represented the Government of Nigeria in challenging a $6.6 billion arbitral award in favour of Process & industrial developments Limited 

• The award arose from a failed gas deal in 2010, and Nigeria was nearly three years late in challenging it

• Mishcon was instructed in October 2019 and, within only 2 months, gathered enough evidence of bribery to apply to set aside the award for fraud 

• Despite the procedural dealy, in July 2020, Sir Ross Cranston found that there was a strong prima facie case of fraud 

• He granted Nigeria an unprecedented extension to challenge the award
  
  

This case demonstrates several things: 

• It was exceptionally high-value and complex - worth $6.6 billion initially 

• Mishcon achieved something procedurally unprecedented - Nigeria was nearly 3 years outside the normal 28-day deadline yet Mishcon secured an extension to allow the challenge to proceed

• Shows strengths in international 

• Shows ability to find solutions in complex circumstances 

• Shows efficiency - found evidence in only 2 months

Why attend? - Innovation

I would like to attend an open day at Mishcon de Reya because I am drawn to the firm's commitment to innovation. As the first firm to launch both an in-house eDiscovery business and a legal tech incubator, I am keen to understand how these technologies support lawyers. The firm's work for the Government of Nigeria stood out to me as it illustrated how Mishcon's forward-facing approach drives efficiency and helps it find solutions in complex circumstances, with evidence of bribery uncovered within only two months. I am therefore interested in learning more about how services like MDR Discover are grounded in legal expertise and help lawyers deliver expert client advice. Having gained experience in administrative and customer-facing roles, I am also keen to see how my skills correspond to Mishcon's practice, and what I should continue to develop.

Why attend? - Culture

II would also like to attend an open day to learn more about Mishcon's culture, particularly its emphasis on empowerment. As a multi-activity instructor, I enjoyed encouraging children during specialist archery and motorsport sessions, and found it rewarding to help them build confidence. This made me interested in how Mischon empowers people to develop, including how MDR Lab supports new technology companies. I am also drawn to its commitment to pro bono and the wider social responsibility this reflects. Through studying family law, I explored the relationship between reductions in legal aid and access to protection orders for domestic abuse victims. This highlighted to me the importance of helping vulnerable people access the legal advice they need. I would therefore value the opportunity to hear about lawyers' experiences of Mishcon's pro bono work, including its partnership with the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre.

QUESTIONS TO ASK: Innovation

Do you think the use of AI is changing the skills that are needed for becoming a trainee solicitor at Mishcon de Reya?

I’m really interested in how Mishcon De Reya brings together legal expertise and technological innovation through MDR Lab and MDR Discover. How do lawyers and technology specialists work together in practice?

How does the Mishcon Discovery Group and the firm’s commitment to innovation impact your work? Does it set the firm apart from other places you have worked?

QUESTIONS - expertise

What do you think makes Mishcon’s dispute resolution practice different from other firms?

How important is technology like MDR Discover when dealing with large and complex disputes?

QUESTIONS - CULTURE

I was really interested in the firm’s culture of empowerment, especially how this is illustrated through MDR Lab. How do you think the firm puts this value into practice?

What suprised you most about working at Mishcon?

How would you describe the culture at Mishcon?

What drew you to working at Mishcon?

What is your favourite thing about working at Mishcon?

I’ve seen how Mishcon has a longstanding partnership with the Queen Mary Legal Advice centre. Does pro bono and community engagement make up a key part of the firm? Do trainees get involved with these programmes?

QUESTIONS - training

What skills do you think are most important for being a successful trainee solicitor at Mishcon?