It’s been a busy month for people moves both at law firms and legal tech vendors, starting with global law firm Hogan Lovells, which announced on 12 January today the appointment of Paul Gilford as its new global chief information officer (CIO), effective 26 January 2026. Gilford, who is based in London, succeeds Gareth Ash, who will retire in February after almost nine years with the firm.
Gilford joins Hogan Lovells with extensive experience leading technology transformation programs across international law firms and professional services organizations. His previous roles include senior positions at DLA Piper, Azets, and McKinsey.
As CIO, Gilford will work closely with Mark Brennan, Hogan Lovells’ global managing partner for digitalization, and Sebastian Lach, co-cEO of ELTEMATE, the firm’s joint legal tech venture. He’ll be tasked with advancing the firm’s AI strategy and leading the execution of its tech roadmap, including the firm’s transition to a fully cloud-based environment.
Commenting on the appointment, CEO Miguel Zaldivar said: “Paul brings a tremendous depth of experience from leading technology transformations across major global organizations, and I am delighted that he will be joining us. Paul will be joining us at an important moment for the firm as we move forward with our intended combination with Cadwalader. His leadership will be instrumental to further modernizing our global technology platform, advancing our AI strategy, and delivering innovative technology solutions to our clients.
Gareth has made an outstanding contribution to Hogan Lovells over the last nine years, playing a pivotal leadership role throughout a period of significant technological change, and we are deeply grateful for his leadership.”
At US giant law firm Skadden, chief digital and information officer Vince DiMascio joined the firm this month. Based in New York, DiMascio will oversee Skadden’s global digital and technology agenda, charged with uniting its enterprise systems, IT operations, cybersecurity, data and analytics and the deployment of AI and other emerging technologies.
DiMascio was previously at big four accountant PwC and before that, CIO & CTO at San Francisco Bay firm Berry Appleman & Leiden. Commenting on the new role when it was announced towards the end of last year, Skadden’s executive partner Jeremy London said: “As AI, data and analytics become increasingly central to our clients’ needs, it is essential that we remain at the forefront of these rapidly evolving fields. Vince’s leadership and expertise will be pivotal in advancing our digital capabilities, enhancing the experience of our people and enabling us to deliver innovative, efficient and enduring solutions to our clients, while also reinforcing the long-term success of our firm.”
GenAI vendor Harvey this week (14 January) announced that Jorge Bestard is joining the company as vice president of EMEA sales and that the organization will open a new office in Paris in Q2. Both announcements reflect continued investment in the European market, where Harvey has also opened offices in Spain and Germany.
Bestard joins Harvey from Canva, where he led the company’s EMEA sales efforts for the last four years. Previously he held leadership roles at Miro and Meta. Originally from Spain, Bestard will be based at Harvey’s EMEA HQ in London but manage teams across the region.
“In the last year, we’ve grown our London team to 75+ employees, expanded into Spain and Germany, and added EQT and Evantic as strategic investors in Europe. The addition of Jorge as a senior leader on our team and an office in Paris in Q2 represent our objective to support the best legal teams in Europe with Harvey,” said Winston Weinberg, Harvey’s CEO.
In France, Harvey works with clients including Adecco, August Debouzy, Berenice, Bredin Prat, and Vinci Energies.
In a further international hire, Luminance also on 15 January announced the appointment of Jonty Koekemoer as VP, to lead the company’s new regional hub in South Africa and ‘supercharge expansion’ across the continent. A South African native, Koekemoer brings more than 13 years of corporate experience across Africa, and has held senior roles at AI-driven technology businesses, leading strategic partnerships and regional growth initiatives. He joined from IT security company Mellivora Technology and has a PhD focused on innovation and the future of technology in the African context. At Luminance, he will be responsible for building the company’s African footprint and supporting the adoption of legal AI across law firms, corporates and the wider partner ecosystem.
Luminance has selected South Africa as a regional hub following a period of significant growth in business from the region. Over the past year, Luminance has recorded 66% increase in subscription customers headquartered in South Africa, alongside a significant rise in deal volume and total contract value, reflecting growing adoption across financial services, energy and professional services. Local clients include Sasol, OM Bank, Purple Group and Standard Bank.
Sascha Graham, VP of legal at Purple Group, said: “In a fast-moving, digitally driven financial services environment, speed, consistency and confidence are critical to maintaining a competitive edge. Luminance has enabled our legal team to work more efficiently across complex contracts while supporting the broader business to move faster and make better-informed decisions.”
Koekemoer added: “Africa’s legal sector is at an important inflection point as pressure grows to do more with less, all while navigating increasing regulatory and commercial complexity. Luminance’s Legal-Grade
AI is uniquely positioned to support this evolution, and I’m excited to help build our presence across Africa, working closely with customers and partners to drive meaningful, sustainable impact.”
From the UK, Definely, an AI-powered contract review and drafting company, has appointed Sigurjón (Sjonni) Ísaksson as chief technology officer, effective immediately.
While a promotion not a hire, Ísaksson’s appointment is one of note and comes after a landmark year for Definely, including the close of a $30m Series B, expansion into North America, and multiple product launches. He joined Definely in 2024 as head of AI and led the development and release of ‘Enhance’ and ‘Cascade’. These two new products transformed Definely’s AI capabilities, shaping its agent architecture and integrating with the products that power Definely’s tech stack.
Ísaksson said: “2025 has shown that Definely’s AI offering is uniquely positioned within a crowded market, and the customer success speaks for itself. I have spent the last two years developing first-of-its-kind AI solutions for complex contract reviewing, unifying Definely’s existing product stack to solve end-to-end workflows for lawyers, and I look forward to doubling down on this as CTO. I am excited to lead an incredible tech team and push the boundaries of deep AI innovation we have achieved in 2025. ”
Nnamdi Emelifeonwu, co-founder & CEO of Definely, added: “Sjonni has already proven what he can do at Definely. As head of AI, he led the development and launch of Enhance and Cascade, products now trusted by law firms and in-house legal teams around the world. Appointing him as CTO gives us continuity and real momentum: faster shipping, stronger technical ownership across both AI and platform, and a clear focus on scaling reliability, security, and enterprise readiness as demand accelerates. Just as importantly, Sjonni is building the kind of high-performing engineering organisation that will help us deliver consistently as we grow.”
Last but not least from the UK, Arbor Law, a specialist legal services firm providing flexible resourcing and counsel to in-house teams and businesses, has appointed Simon Marshall (founder of legal marketing agency TBD Marketing) as fractional chief marketing officer. Marshall will take up a six-month engagement, reporting to fractional chief transformation officer, Sahar Farooqi, who is overseeing Arbor’s transformation project.
Arbor Law was founded by partners and directors Kate Bennett, Dan Adams and Ed Rea. With extensive experience in commercial, corporate and regulatory legal work, Arbor Law attracts lawyers from high profile, City firms looking to use their skills and experience to transform businesses.
Marshall will lead an initial audit of marketing, business development and operational processes, before executing several aligned projects designed to embed the firm’s new business plan and deliver growth. His role will include close collaboration with the partners and founders to refine their marketing and equip the firm to win more of the top-tier work they currently undertake for their clients.
Kate Bennett commented: “It’s an exciting time for Arbor Law. Our entire firm is built on the fact that we’ve seen law evolve, and it continues to, which is why now is the time to embark on our most ambitious growth plan yet. We’re looking forward to working with Simon to refine how we position ourselves to win new work and attract the top tier talent that allows us to deliver the exceptional work we have built a reputation on.”
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