Aptum Senior Lawyer and Head of Innovation, David Adason, has been named as a 2022 Rising Star by Australasian Lawyer.
The award recognises outstanding legal professionals in Australia aged 35 or under, and is judged based on key achievements over the past 12 months, as well as broader contributions to the legal industry.
David’s recognition as a Rising Star follows a year in which he led a number of large scale, complex commercial disputes where Aptum’s clients achieved noteworthy results, engineered several innovation products to enhance Aptum’s client delivery and service, and made a significant contribution to mentoring junior lawyers and project managers.
David’s achievements for Aptum’s clients included a substantial professional negligence dispute which was resolved within 12 months of issuing proceedings, and the successful resolution of a very large and complex breach of director’s duties claim – one of the first instances of insurers as joint defendants in Australia.
As Head of Innovation, David designed, oversaw development of, and rolled out several innovation products. A fully customised Microsoft Dynamics 365 practice management system provided structured and global best practice business development methods tailored to Aptum’s unique model. The implementation of ‘Project Magic’ – a centralised system for the IP behind Aptum’s practice – enabled Aptum lawyers to more easily access key information, increasing a firm wide focus on substantive project work by reducing administration and simplifying workflow processes.
Outside Aptum, David has been heavily involved in the Chief Innovation Officers Forum Working Group at the Centre for Legal Innovation, playing a key role in both the research methodology and production of the ‘Innovation Professionals Capabilities Survey Report’ published in February 2021. The report provides “insights into the evolution and role of senior innovation leaders in legal practice today, as well as key indicators of how their capabilities might develop in the future.”
In announcing the full list of winners, Australasian Lawyer highlighted that the Rising Stars “made an impact everywhere from international corporations to boutiques, and commanded the legal profession’s attention.”
On David’s nomination, Nigel Evans, Aptum’s Managing Director said, “David is a natural design and systems thinker with a curiosity and desire for excellence that has driven fundamental changes to Aptum’s practice.”
“To top it off,” Nigel added, “David is an incredibly decent and thoughtful person. David deserves recognition as a rising star – he is an enormous talent with a very bright future.”
David’s nomination as a Rising Star follows Aptum’s recognition as a Finalist for Innovator of the Year (Company) at both the 2021 and 2020 Australian Law Awards, a continuing acknowledgment of David’s leadership in legal innovation.
In 2022, David is looking to build on the culture of continuous improvement at Aptum, and to improve his own capability in the innovation and legal technology space by developing further legal innovation products.
