TLT shortlisted at Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe Awards 2026

National law firm TLT has been jointly shortlisted with National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe Awards 2026.  

These annual awards celebrate innovation across the legal profession, recognising lawyers who develop creative solutions to complex client challenges.

TLT and NGET were recognised for Outside Counsel Management in developing and implementing a technology-enabled instruction and collaboration solution co-designed by TLT around NGET’s bespoke operational, regulatory and delivery needs. The platform provides legal teams, agents and internal land officers with a single, secure environment through which they can collaborate, manage high-volume property instructions and track the progress of matters across NGET’s transmission network.  

It also provides a scalable model to support the UK’s existing transmission network while helping NGET prepare for major infrastructure investment, including the Great Grid Upgrade.

The solution has already delivered meaningful impact for NGET, helping to streamline property instructions, improve collaboration across legal, operational and panel firm teams, and provide clearer oversight of work in progress.

The TLT and NGET team behind the solution was led from TLT by Maria Connolly, Partner and Head of Future Energy and Real Estate, and Thomas Stone, Lead Legal Technologist in TLT’s market leading FutureLaw team – dedicated to enhancing legal services through driving digital transformation.  

They worked as an extension of the NGET General Counsel UK Legal Property and Planning team, led by Jagdeep Parmar, Senior Lawyer, Michelle Schofield, Senior Lawyer and Julie Turner, Legal Advisor.

Maria Connolly, Partner and Head of Future Energy and Real Estate at TLT, said:

“Across the UK infrastructure planning and future energy sectors, organisations are facing significant pressure to deliver at pace - from accelerating regulatory change to the sheer scale of land, planning and consenting activity required for programmes like the Great Grid Upgrade.

“Our solution is a direct response to the scale and complexity of NGET’s operational and regulatory landscape and a great example of what can be achieved when legal innovation is built directly around a client’s operational reality – delivering consistency, transparency and meaningful time savings through automated workflows.

“This shortlisting reflects our commitment to innovation and collaboration to support our clients with their most complex challenges, unlocking opportunity and preparing them for what comes next.”

Michelle Schofield, Senior Lawyer NGET General Counsel UK Legal Property and Planning team, said:

“Innovation is in the NGET DNA. We built the first connected electric grid in the world and we haven’t stopped since. Today, we continue to anticipate tomorrow to deliver a better energy future for our customers and communities and it is vital that our legal processes evolve with that. We needed clearer, more transparent and user-friendly ways to manage high-volume property instructions, to support better reporting and strengthen collaboration across internal teams, land officers, agents and our panel law firms.

"Working with TLT on this solution has helped bring the NGET vision to life. It is already making it easier for our teams to collaborate, manage matters consistently and maintain clearer oversight of work in progress. This shortlisting is a welcome recognition of what can be achieved when legal, operational and technology teams work together to design practical solutions around the needs of the business.”

Winners will be announced on the 24th September at a ceremony held at the iconic Natural History Museum in London.