Hogan Lovells Cadwalader signs both Harvey and Legora and creates an AI Board for 3,300 lawyers
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader set out a firmwide AI strategy on 16 October 2026: an AI Board, new AI leaders and agreements with both Harvey and Legora.
By Emre AlemdarPublished
Tech AI LatestHogan Lovells Cadwalader announced a firmwide AI strategy on 16 October 2026. The firm signed agreements with both Harvey and Legora, created an AI Board that decides whether tools are built or bought, and named Paul Otto Managing Partner for Legal Technology and AI. Legora says its rollout followed a pilot with more than 1,300 lawyers in 18 practice teams, and that the firm has over 3,300 lawyers in more than 36 offices.
Key facts
- Announced: 16 October 2026 (Hogan Lovells Cadwalader press release)
- Platforms: agreements with both Harvey and Legora; proprietary tools continue through the firm's technology arm ELTEMATE
- Governance: a new AI Board decides build versus buy, allocates resources and oversees deployment
- People: Paul Otto becomes Managing Partner - Legal Technology and AI; Oliver Campbell becomes Chief Transformation Officer; Bill Ferreira leads a new Commercial Unit
- Legora pilot: more than 1,300 lawyers across 18 practice teams before a rollout across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, Legora says
- Contract values and seat numbers: not stated in the announcement
What Hogan Lovells Cadwalader announced
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader unveiled a firmwide AI strategy on 16 October 2026 built on three parts: outside AI platforms, its own tools and a new governance structure. The firm said it has signed agreements with both Harvey and Legora, and that ELTEMATE, its technology arm, will keep building proprietary tools, workflows and client-facing products.
The firm is creating an AI Board that will evaluate AI ideas from practice groups and sectors, decide whether a solution should be built internally or sourced externally, allocate resources and oversee development and deployment. Paul Otto, a Washington, D.C. partner in the Global Regulatory practice who advises on AI, cybersecurity and data, becomes Managing Partner - Legal Technology and AI. Oliver Campbell, a former capital markets lawyer, is appointed Chief Transformation Officer. A new Commercial Unit, led by Bill Ferreira, will handle pricing, legal project management, pitching and client delivery.
What the Legora rollout covers
Legora published its own announcement the same day. It says the firm is providing Legora to its lawyers across the Americas, EMEA and APAC after a pilot in which more than 1,300 lawyers across 18 practice teams used it on real matters in capital markets, banking and finance, M&A, disputes, real estate, and tax and regulatory work. Lawyers in New York, Washington, D.C., London, Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg took part. Legora describes the firm, formed in 2026 by the merger of Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, as having more than 3,300 lawyers across over 36 offices.
The firm will also be a design partner on two Legora products: Agentic Legal Research, where it will help decide which US sources and research workflows are built first, and Monitors, a regulatory horizon-scanning tool. Neither release gives the scope of the Harvey agreement or any contract values.
Why it matters
Many large law firms have partnered with a single legal AI platform. CEO Miguel Zaldivar said there is no single AI solution that will meet every need of a modern global law firm, and the firm is paying for two competing vendors while building its own tools. The AI Board is the mechanism that makes that workable: it turns AI purchasing into a governed decision rather than a practice-group choice.
The Commercial Unit points at the business question behind the technology. Zaldivar linked it to client demands for transparency, efficiency and commercial rigour. If AI shortens legal work, pricing has to change, and the firm has put pricing and AI under named leaders at the same time.
What to watch next
Open points are how work is split between Harvey and Legora, whether the AI Board publishes its criteria, and whether the Commercial Unit introduces new fee models. Other sector deployments are tracked under AI in Industry.
What changed
| Before | Harvey and Legora were in use at the firm without a published firmwide AI strategy, and Legora was in pilot with more than 1,300 lawyers |
|---|---|
| After | Signed agreements with both vendors, a Legora rollout across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, an AI Board, a Managing Partner for Legal Technology and AI, and a Commercial Unit |
| Who it affects | The firm's more than 3,300 lawyers, its clients, and legal AI vendors competing for large law firm contracts |
Questions people ask
- Why did Hogan Lovells Cadwalader choose both Harvey and Legora?
- CEO Miguel Zaldivar said no single AI solution meets every need of a modern global law firm, so the firm combines both platforms with proprietary tools from ELTEMATE.
- What does the Hogan Lovells Cadwalader AI Board do?
- It evaluates AI ideas from across the firm, decides whether to build or buy, allocates resources and oversees development and deployment.
- How many lawyers tested Legora at Hogan Lovells Cadwalader?
- More than 1,300 lawyers across 18 practice teams, according to Legora's announcement of 16 October 2026.
Sources
- Hogan Lovells Cadwalader unveils the next phase of its AI strategy (Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, 16 Oct 2026)
- Hogan Lovells Cadwalader rolls out Legora globally (Legora, 16 Oct 2026)
Reference pages
- Hogan Lovells Cadwalader company
- Legora company
Spotted an error? See the corrections policy and tell the editor. Facts in this story come from the sources listed above; vendor claims are attributed.
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