Legal Week Intelligence, in association with Fulcrum GT, recently published the first edition of its Top 20 Legal IT Innovators report, which profiles the law firm leaders, in-house lawyers and tech pioneers driving change in the legal profession.

Louise Pentland is chief business affairs and legal officer at PayPal. Before that, she was chief legal officer at Nokia from 2008 to 2014, managing 400 lawyers and other professionals in more than 30 countries – a global team that in 2011 was named Financial Times Most Innovative In-House Legal Team of the Year. Pentland is a qualified solicitor in the UK and an active member of the New York Bar. She is also passionate about innovation.

After studying law and working at a UK law firm, she "pretty quickly found that environment was a little suffocating: it stifled innovation and creativity". She did her time, "got out at the first opportunity" and moved in-house – which, she says, was, at that time, seen as "a softer option, lower paid and what women do if they want to have a family". Nevertheless, she adds: "I was aware of all the stigmas but I was just drawn to the business world."

Following a spell at Avon Cosmetics in Northampton, she was headhunted by Nokia, where she would spend 16 years. Pentland found "the most amazing culture when I got to Nokia", adding: "I realised it didn't matter whether you were a man or a woman. What they valued was what you did. It was overwhelming because it was so different to what I had ever seen or imagined in business."

She was appointed Nokia's chief legal officer just as the financial crisis hit in 2008 – responsible for intellectual property, legal and, later, for government relations. "We were in a fairly significant downturn; it was a real challenge to keep people motivated. We had developed some of the best industry players but our competitors – Apple and Samsung – were getting stronger. That's where the best form of innovation came in, where we had to start getting creative, because we were at serious risk of losing people that we needed more than ever in a downturn."

When it came to law firms, she sought out "individual lawyers who had a good reputation, knew what I needed", adding: "That's where I probably differ from some other general counsel because I'm really focused on my in-house lawyers having relationships with external lawyers but also, really picking lawyers that are cost effective, don't compromise on quality and also have a real understanding of the business and the mindset of the company."

Pentland developed what she terms "a philosophy" while at Nokia. "I wasn't loyal to any one law firm." That evolved into a more refined philosophy at PayPal: "There's a responsibility here to drive change… because that change isn't going to be homegrown in these big law firms – they've been at it, quite pathetically, for years. I still hear from these firms who parade diversity numbers of 20% or 25%, telling me all the reasons why it's hard, instead of focusing on striving for 50%."

In her role at PayPal, Pentland sees her in-house lawyers as a product of their own innovation. "I have great diversity in my team," she says. "Men, women, ethnic backgrounds. We come at things where we're culturally raised differently, we look at problems differently, we look at solutions differently, and that's the real mix that you need for really great decision making."

Her approach goes further: "One thing I'm very focused on at PayPal is picking law firms that really emulate our company's values – diversity and inclusion." It used to be the case, she suggests, that "you might have to compromise a little bit", adding: "There was a perception that there was a quality deficiency outside the big law firms. But a lot of these great diversity candidates have left the big firms because it's so hard to break through, the numbers are absolutely pathetic; the good news is they have voted with their feet.

A lot of people look for Ivy League, certain law schools or they went to 'this' law firm. Actually, I think people who've got great life experience make great innovators

"Many of these amazingly talented lawyers have gone off and set up their own firms. I seek them out because that's where we'll really seek to drive change in law firms that haven't woken up to what's needed and what their clients want, which is much, much, greater diversity. It's not about just having statistics: diversity brings better results, end of discussion. Why wouldn't you want that?"

In deciding on who she will partner with in the future, Pentland reveals her thinking: "We're in the process of contacting our existing law firms. We've sent them all letters to say: we want you to tell us what you have because we will, in future, be making our decisions of where we put work based on firms that really do support and advocate diversity.

"It isn't meant to be a light switch you turn on and off; but there are firms showing that they are willing to make changes. It's things like: maybe the relationship partner today is a man but if you tell me you have a succession pipeline of three women, or two women and a man of colour; then ok, so now I feel like you're working to make a change. But to think that I'm just going to propagate the lethargy in this area, that's not going to happen any more. I've met with a lot of firms – some are trying and some are telling me they're trying. All the big law firms have an incredible way to go."

Pentland sees talent and innovation as being inextricably linked: "Both within the company but also as applicable in the legal field, as we think about how to develop our people. If you develop your people and you bring in great, talented mixed teams, then that's what sparks innovation. Because innovation isn't just something that you can stick in a test tube and come up with. It's how you drive people to be the best and the freest they can be, to allow them to be innovative."

Having studied workforce innovation in several large US corporations, including Chevron, Pentland has developed her thinking about its role in legal services. "There's this belief that innovation is a big life-changing event. Some of the qualities that I look for when I'm hiring lawyers and when I look at examples of innovation inside – what PayPal's done even in the time I've been here – and I look at the individuals, they're just passionate about what we do and they want to make it better."

Referring to the recent difficulties PayPal faced over 'robocalling', she says: "The contrast between where we were and where we are was down to a handful of passionate people, who saw a problem and wanted to fix it. That's innovation. That's the quality, the je ne sais quoi of people's character. That's what you need, that's what innovators are and they never stop. I'm seeing that right now. They're thinking: what's next and how do we keep going?

"It's contagious too. Once you get that first big wave and win, you want more. That's what I crave from the in-house team. Someone who just comes to work, does their job, does a great job, but doesn't stop and look out of the window and look around them, they're not likely to be innovators. That's life experience. A lot of people look for Ivy League, certain law schools or they went to 'this' law firm. Actually, I think people who've got great life experience make great innovators."