Břetislav Šimral receives Legal Intrapreneur award at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards Europe 2026

Břetislav Šimral, Europe Innovation and Intelligence Director at Dentons, was awarded Legal Intrapreneur at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards Europe 2026. The accolade recognizes his pivotal role in leading Dentons' artificial intelligence strategy across Europe and Central Asia, as well as developing the Firm's proprietary AI tools such as DAISY and Legal Radar.

"I am truly grateful for this award," said Břetislav Šimral. "Of course, innovation never happens in isolation - it requires diverse ideas, skills and perspectives. We have incredible talent across the firm, and I am passionate about bringing people together in the spirit of co-creation. A special thanks to our Innovation and Intelligence team, IT team, lawyers, and countless others who have contributed to the success of our innovation strategy."

Overall, Dentons was ranked among the top 7 innovative law firms in Europe, reflecting the Firm's advanced use of AI and technology and its ability to bring creative solutions to clients' business challenges.

Dentons was highly commended for the development of Legal Radar, an AI tool which allows Dentons lawyers to generate an instant legal health check on any company. Based on deep research on company news, market developments and sector trends, it identifies risks and opportunities for the company and matches those with Dentons services that can help - providing lawyers with a powerful client conversation starter and business development tool.

Dentons was also commended for its AI empowerment strategy, a cultural transformation program to help embed AI into daily work. The integrated strategy includes training, best practice sharing, as well hackathons, where lawyers are invited to submit ideas on potential AI applications, and then the Innovation and Intelligence develops a rapid prototype overnight and presents it to the group the following day. Through this approach, the firm increased the number of AI interactions across Europe from 23,500 in June 2025 to 455,000 in August 2026.

Wendela Raas, Europe Chief Executive Officer at Dentons, commented, "We are immensely proud of Břetislav and the entire Europe Innovation and Intelligence team. Not only did Breta receive the well-deserved Legal Intrapreneur award, but his team was also behind two of the other highlighted projects - Legal Radar and our AI empowerment strategy. Through their leadership, and with the support and engagement of our colleagues across Europe, we are truly delivering on our vision to build the law firm of the future."

Beyond the use of technology, Dentons was recognised for its innovative legal advice. The UK Planning and Public Law team was highly commended for advising the UK Government on the making of a Special Development Order (SDO) granting planning permission for the Universal Studios theme park near Bedford, which will be the UK's first major entertainment resort complex. The SDO was laid before Parliament in December 2025 and enacted in January 2026 - unlocking one of the UK's most significant inward investment opportunities. The work has established a precedent for the use of SDOs to facilitate nationally significant commercial investment.

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