Dentons’ UK, Ireland and Middle East business has appointed a shadow executive team comprised of potential future leaders to offer recommendations to the firm’s leadership on strategic and operational initiatives.

The programme is designed to add fresh perspectives and experiences to inform the firm’s decision making and also give the next generation of leaders a taste of how decisions are made at the executive level. The team will be made up of junior partners and senior legal and business services professionals, with members serving for a 12-month term.

The inaugural 11-strong group includes London practice manager George Ferrier, head of consulting at Helix Andrew Stylianou, senior talent and development manager Sally Marshall and Dubai-based banking and finance counsel Jane Flournoy. Six of the 11 members are women, including real estate senior associate Amy Greener in Milton Keynes, people reward and mobility counsel Sarah Jackman in Glasgow and corporate senior consultant Sairah Narmah-Alqasim in Jeddah.

Paul Jarvis, Dentons’ chief executive for the UK, Ireland and Middle East, said: “I am thrilled to welcome such an exceptional group of people to our first-ever shadow executive team. This team will engage in open and honest debate, bringing fresh ideas and diverse insights to enrich our leadership thinking on the topics that matter most to our clients, our colleagues and our communities. The team also enhances our commitment to increasing the transparency of governance and decision making in our firm as we deliver our five-year strategy.”

The group will receive special training and mentoring from the firm’s executive leadership, including divisional leaders and directors. The shadow team will be given the freedom to set its own agenda and cover issues such as how to leverage the firm’s global reach, how to build on its AI initiatives and how to improve career pathways for business and legal services teams.

The introduction of the shadow team comes as Dentons prepares to change its leadership, with global CEO Elliott Portnoy set to stand down in November after more than a decade in the top job. Dentons’ founding global chair Joe Andrew also stepped down last year, with the firm abandoning the global chair role.