Ballard Spahr has been named to the shortlist in the "Practice of Law" category of the Innovative Lawyers North America (ILNA) 2025 awards from the Financial Times, which recognized the firm's innovation in the discovery process for complex litigation.
Financial Times announced the shortlisted firms across categories last week, including Ballard Spahr for "Innovation in Digital Tools: How Ballard Spahr Transformed Its Approach to Discovery with Syllo." Winners in the Practice of Law and other ILNA award categories will be announced at the December 8 awards ceremony at Gotham Hall in New York City.
Ballard Spahr's secure system leverages innovations in AI to streamline the discovery process, especially first-level document review. Jason A. Leckerman, chair of Ballard Spahr's 340-lawyer Litigation Department, along with Thomas W. Hazlett , a partner in the Department, led the firm's innovative collaboration with Syllo. The platform's AI-powered litigation workspace is designed to help legal professionals more efficiently manage, examine, and analyze case documents. Syllo uses agentic AI to automate and accelerate workflows, particularly large-scale document review.
Ballard Spahr's Technology Innovation Team, in close collaboration with Jason, Thomas, and other litigators, partnered with Syllo to successfully plan and implement the groundbreaking project. As technology innovation remains a cornerstone of the firm's IT strategy, this advancement underscores the firm's steadfast commitment to deploying technology-driven solutions that optimize efficiency and deliver measurable value to clients. The rollout of the new system comes at an especially opportune time, following Ballard Spahr's recent combination with Lane Powell, which expanded the firm by nearly 100 litigators and added three new offices in the Pacific Northwest.
"We're honored that Financial Times has recognized our achievements with Syllo," Jason said. "Leveraging this cutting-edge tool empowers us to deliver even greater value for our clients, while upholding the highest standards of security. We're deeply appreciative of our partnership with TLATech and the expertise and dedication within Ballard that made this possible."
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