Dentons has hired a former leader of EY Law to lead a new global solutions group.
Cornelius Grossmann has joined the firm as global head of solutions development, having previously spent more than a decade as global managing partner of EY Law.
Dentons’ new group will focus on delivering integrated solutions that provide value across key markets, the firm said in a statement. Grossmann is expected to lead the group’s efforts to deploy new technology and will collaborate closely with the firm’s clients and markets and business technology teams.
Kate Barton, Dentons’ global CEO, told GLP the group’s creation had been spurred by “clients saying they want more solutions that are tech-enabled and that really press our advantage, which is cross region”.
She added: “We have a challenger brand at Dentons, we’re known for our innovation. We’re the world’s largest law firm by footprint, we’re in more than 86 countries and have 170 offices and if we can guide clients across those different jurisdictions and put that together in a way that they can easily understand it will really differentiate us.”
Barton added the new group’s core offerings would be decided in the coming days.
“We need to ensure we choose the right solutions that are client-focused and will resonate in the market,” she said. “Cornelius will initially be on a listening tour to gather insights and feedback.”
Grossmann, who is based in Berlin, oversaw the growth of EY Law to 3,500 legal professionals across more than 80 countries while serving as global managing partner between 2010 and 2023. Earlier, he practised law at Donahue & Partners in New York and Luther and Hengeler Mueller in Germany.
He is the third former senior EY partner to join Dentons in recent months. Barton was the accountancy giant’s global vice chair before succeeding Elliott Portnoy as Dentons’ CEO last November, while in January Jonathan Glazer joined the firm as global chief operating officer having been EY’s US partnership operations leader and tax matters partner.
Several candidates had been considered for the new solutions role, Barton said.
“Cornelius and I have a history at EY and I knew he was the right person – he successfully led a global law firm to digitise its offerings, which is what the market wants,” she said. “He met a lot of our people and everyone appreciated his leadership style and vision.”
Grossmann said his role provided an opportunity to make Dentons more competitive by providing technology that would make the firm more efficient and lead to significant cost savings for clients.
He added: “Dentons is unique in the market by its footprint and we have an exciting opportunity to leverage across countries what is done well in some but not offered in others, which means we can better service clients working across multiple jurisdictions.”
The distribution of new offerings will go through Dentons’ clients and markets group, which has a robust account program, Barton said.
“Collaboration with that and the business technology team’s crucial because clients prioritise technology and it’s essential to integrate tech solutions to effectively meet client needs,” she said.
“Clients want to make sure that they’re using maximising their use of technology safely. We’re in 35 more countries than any other firm and our secret sauce is the ability to provide that across all our jurisdictions and bring that insight to a client sitting in a central headquarters location trying to figure this out.
“With all the uncertainties in the business environment at the moment, I can’t think of a better time to launch a group focused on what clients need to navigate the complexity of their businesses.”
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