Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has made a significant move by appointing Paul Orchard as the director of innovation and legal transformation for the Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific (EMEAPAC) region. Previously, Orchard served as the head of innovation at Stephenson Harwood, where he spearheaded the UK top 50 law firm’s GenAI solution testing and implementation program.
Orchard’s Extensive Experience
Paul Orchard is well-versed in the operations of large law firms. Before his tenure at Stephenson Harwood, he was the global head of legal service innovation at Freshfields and the director of continuous improvement at Clifford Chance. His new role at NRF involves collaborating closely with partners, clients, and the firm’s legal transformation team, NRF Transform, which is composed of professionals including lawyers, project managers, consultants, and legal technologists.
Strategic Partnership with Jana Blount
Orchard’s appointment follows the hiring of Jana Blount in October 2025 as the director of client solutions and digital strategy for EMEAPAC. Together, Orchard and Blount are expected to drive the firm’s innovation agenda forward, aiming to integrate internal transformation with client-facing digital solutions and a comprehensive regional technology strategy.
GenAI Strategy at Stephenson Harwood
During his time at Stephenson Harwood, Orchard was notably involved in the firm’s GenAI strategy, announced in May 2024. This strategy included the adoption of Harvey for legal tasks and a partnership with Curvestone to develop more tailored GenAI solutions.
Leadership Remarks
Peter Scott, global managing partner and managing partner of EMEAPAC at Norton Rose Fulbright, remarked, “Paul’s mandate is to help our lawyers further elevate the delivery of legal services to our clients. He brings a rare combination of client-centric thinking and deep operational experience across innovation, AI, and legal operations. We are committed to accelerating our transformation and innovation agenda across the region, and we are delighted to welcome Paul to the firm.”
Orchard’s Vision
Orchard expressed his enthusiasm for the new role, stating that he looks forward to the opportunity to “reimagine how we deliver legal services, enhancing both client value and internal engagement.” He added, “I look forward to collaborating with teams across the firm to embed practical solutions that create real, measurable impact for our clients.”
Emerging Trends in GenAI
Discussing future trends, Orchard highlighted the importance of deriving value from GenAI beyond initial use-cases offered by existing platforms. He emphasized the need for custom solutions for both internal and client use, integrating structured and unstructured data with GenAI, and exploring new agentic use cases.
Paul Hastings’ Technological Shift
In related news, leading global law firm Paul Hastings has chosen 3E in the cloud as its next-generation financial and business operations platform. By adopting Elite’s SaaS platform, Paul Hastings aims to unify financial, time, invoice, and data management, moving away from multiple integrated point solutions.
The Los Angeles-headquartered firm, renowned for its work with investment banks, asset managers, and corporations, has over 1,200 lawyers across 24 locations worldwide.
Jon Dack, CIO at Paul Hastings, stated, “Elite will deliver the unified, enterprise-grade platform required to support a firm of our scale. Migrating our financial and business operations to 3E in the cloud gives us the secure, modern, and agile foundation we need to innovate, enhance our lawyer experience, and support the continued growth of our global practice.”
Mark Dorman, CEO of Elite, added, “Paul Hastings has long been a leader in how global law firms operate and grow. Their move to the cloud reinforces a broad industry shift towards platforms that can support scale, performance, and long-term innovation.”
Note: This article is inspired by content from https://legaltechnology.com/2026/01/13/exclusive-paul-orchard-joins-norton-rose-fulbright-as-director-of-innovation-and-legal-transformation-for-emeapac/. It has been rephrased for originality. Images are credited to the original source.