For the second year running, the most hotly contested category in the British Legal Awards has been the Law Firm Innovation Award. There were dozens of submissions. When the judges meet to choose the winner, it is the role of the panel's chair, City of London Law Society chairman Alasdair Douglas, to ensure consensus. It isn't always easy.

I remember two general counsel a few years ago debating how far an idea borrowed from another sector could be described as innovative. One GC felt that, because the innovation under discussion was standard practice in other parts of the business world, it should be discounted. The other strongly disagreed, contending that it should be judged in context.

It is striking this year how many shortlisted entries go out of their way to explain how they have adapted principles and practices from other sectors to improve client service. Perhaps this reflects a growing acceptance among in-house lawyers that they have to be steeped in the culture of their own organisations. There was a time when some GCs railed against the techniques used by their company's procurement teams, arguing that the law was special. Those days are long gone.

So who are the contenders and what do their entries tell us about the direction law firms are heading? The initiatives fall broadly into two categories: finding ways to provide legal services more efficiently, and providing clients with an enhanced service by playing to the unique insight a firm can provide by virtue of its status as an independent, specialist adviser.

In the first category are: Addleshaw Goddard, which has used 'business process mapping' techniques to identify how to do legal work more efficiently; Axiom, which has hired a team of project managers to oversee complex legal work; and Lawyers on Demand, whose Lawyers on Call service provides teams to handle work on an ad-hoc basis. 

In the second camp are: Clifford Chance, which used the principles of 'continuous improvement' to help UBS analyse the distressed debt trading process so that deals could be closed more quickly; and Dundas & Wilson, which has created an annual client relationship report that – among other things – sets out to provide insights into the client's activities gleaned from Dundas' work as its adviser.

And then there is DAC Beachcroft, which set up a team with law enforcement and regulatory experience to identify patterns of claimant fraud for insurers, and DLA Piper, which runs an extensive training and networking programme for clients and other in-house lawyers. 

Whoever wins is certain to reflect the increasing openness of law firms to modern corporate realities. Let battle commence.

Click here for the full shortlist for the British Legal Awards. For event enquiries and table bookings, call Steve Hands on +44 (0)20 7004 7460 or email [email protected].