City lawyer turned tech guru Adam Curphey will join firm’s London office next month
BPP University Law School’s head of development and innovation technology, Adam Curphey, will join the London office of Reed Smith next month.
Curphey, who practised as a capital markets solicitor at White & Case before making the switch to teaching, will become the international player’s new innovation engagement manager, it was confirmed yesterday.
His appointment follows the departure of Reed Smith’s former innovation manager, Alex Smith, who joined tech outfit iManage RAVN earlier this year as its new global product management lead.
Curphey’s new role will see him work closely with the firm’s lawyers, practice innovation and IT development teams to implement new ideas to “drive internal efficiencies”, as well as “identify collaboration opportunities” with its clients to deliver new products and services. He will also run the firm’s innovation hub in London, which opened in 2016.
Commenting on his new role, Oxford University grad Curphey said:
“Reed Smith is a firm that stands out for its approach to innovation. It is not just a buzz word but very clearly something that the firm takes seriously. I am excited to be joining the firm and look forward to working with its clients, lawyers and business services teams to continue to innovate.”
Lucy Dillon, chief knowledge officer at Reed Smith, added: “We’re delighted to have Adam on board. He has a deep understanding of the legal technology environment and how to deploy innovative solutions for law firms.”
Following a three and half year spell at White & Case, Curphey joined BPP as a law lecturer in 2012. He was appointed head of development and innovation technology in late 2018.
Reed Smith introduced a new programme last year in which lawyers can assign up to 50 hours of their annual billable targets to time spent working on innovative projects or products.