Norton Rose Fulbright strengthens innovation leadership with appointment of Paul Orchard as Director of Innovation and Legal Transformation, EMEAPAC

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright today announces the appointment of Paul Orchard as Director of Innovation and Legal Transformation for Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific (EMEAPAC).

Paul, who joins from Stephenson Harwood where he served as Head of Innovation, has over 15 years' experience leading transformation at global law firms, with a focus on delivering lasting results.

His track record spans enterprise-scale digital transformation (including firm-wide generative AI deployments), structured process improvement programmes, and the design and implementation of new operating models.

In his new role at Norton Rose Fulbright, Paul will work closely with partners, clients, the firm's legal transformation team, NRF Transform, and business services teams to enhance the client experience through matter (re)design, strategic operational improvements and the deployment of new technologies across the region.

Paul's appointment follows the October 2025 hire of Jana Blount as Director of Client Solutions and Digital Strategy for EMEAPAC. Together, Paul and Jana will collaborate to accelerate the firm's innovation agenda, bringing together internal transformation, client facing digital solutions, and regionwide technology strategy.

Peter Scott, Global Managing Partner and Managing Partner, EMEAPAC at Norton Rose Fulbright, commented:

"Paul's mandate is to help our lawyers further elevate the delivery of legal services to our clients. He brings a rare combination of client centric thinking and deep operational experience across innovation, AI, and legal operations. We are committed to accelerating our transformation and innovation agenda across the region, and we are delighted to welcome Paul to the firm."

Paul Orchard commented:

"This is an exciting opportunity to reimagine how we deliver legal services, enhancing both client value and internal engagement. I look forward to collaborating with teams across the firm to embed practical solutions that create real, measurable impact for our clients."

The NRF Transform team includes lawyers, former lawyers, project managers, consultants, legal designers, service delivery paralegals, legal technologists and the full range of dev-ops professionals.

The team has spearheaded numerous solutions for clients including the NRF Horizon Scanner, NRF Matter Hub and NRF Foreign Subsidies Regulation Solution.