Top 20 UK firm Bird & Bird has hired a technology partner from EY, along with three of his former colleagues, to launch a legal transformation team.
Shahin Baghaei joined Bird & Bird on Monday and will lead the development of legaltech aimed at handling clients’ routine work more efficiently. He reports to the firm’s CEO Christian Bartsch.
He is joined by head of legal solutions Dale Carden, senior manager Carl Newman and manager Carolyn Guha. The team will bring together legal expertise, workflows and technology to improve the scale and consistency of processes, including contract management.
Baghaei has extensive experience advising clients on operational and commercial issues, including how legal teams can use technology to improve their processes. He has worked across heavily regulated sectors including life sciences and healthcare, technology and communications and financial services.
He spent seven years at EY, where he was a partner and legal transform & operate leader for the UK and Ireland. Before joining EY, he worked in Deutsche Bank’s in-house legal chief operating office.
Baghaei said: “Bird & Bird's leadership, lawyers and business services teams are united by a shared commitment to innovation and helping clients navigate change.
“The firm's willingness to embrace new ideas and continually evolve how legal services are delivered was a major attraction for me and my team. The opportunity to join a firm with such a strong brand, culture and heritage at a time of unprecedented opportunity and change is incredibly exciting.”
Bartsch added: “Shahin’s experience advising organisations on AI, innovation and the future of legal service delivery further strengthens our legaltech and AI capabilities, supporting our clients through smart, efficient and scalable solutions.”
Baghaei began his career as a solicitor at Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance before founding legal and compliance financial services consultancy Visionlane.
The hires come as law firms and legal departments step up their investment in AI and legal technology.
Deloitte’s The AI Imperative: Reshaping of the Legal Industry report, released last month, found that 61% of legal departments are deploying AI, while 10% said the technology was fully embedded in their daily workflows. The findings were based on a survey of 121 senior legal leaders worldwide.
The study also found that 79% of legal departments had increased their AI investment year-on-year.
In July, Gartner research director Raashi Rastogi told GLP that legal departments viewed AI as their number one priority, with the research firm predicting that companies will double their legal technology budgets by 2028.
Other major law firms are also strengthening their capability in AI, including Arnold & Porter, which last month appointed its first-ever chief AI officer, Roger Maeda.
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