The John Lewis Partnership is set to make innovation a top priority for its next legal panel review, due to take place later this year. 

Hannah Hullah, legal director of the John Lewis Partnership, parent company of John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners, told Legal Week she will be focusing on innovation and how law firms provide their services.

She added that value for money, use of technology and cultural alignment will also count towards selection.

The company currently has a four-firm panel – Burges Salmon, Dentons, Eversheds Sutherland and Slaughter and May – with the lineup last reviewed four years ago.

Hannah Hullah, John Lewis Partnership

Hullah said technology is now used by the company more than ever and that she is looking for firms that take a similar approach, adding: "Some law firms are ahead of the curve, while others are falling behind.

"In terms of the firms we do have on our panel, they're doing well in terms of innovation. It's not necessarily about size, but about being willing to experiment with different techniques," she said.

She said the focus was a change from the previous panel review, which focused on criteria such as having a one-stop-shop.

Hullah said John Lewis will continue to choose firms that show an alignment with its ethos, especially on diversity.

"I suspect eyebrows would be raised," she said, "if a law firm turned up to a pitch with a team of white middle-class men."