Drew Winlaw, Partner and Global Large Language Model (LLM) Lead at international law firm Simmons & Simmons, has been included in The Lawyer’s “Hot 100” for 2026, which recognises excellence and significant impact in the legal profession.
The Lawyer notes that Drew’s unique career journey – from manufacturing to commercial law, to co-founding Wavelength, the world’s first regulated legal engineering firm (acquired by Simmons in 2019) – has helped to position him today as a leader in legal innovation.
Now heading Simmons & Simmons’ Global LLM team, Drew has been instrumental in developing Percy AI, the firm’s multi-award winning in-house generative AI tool, which has revolutionised client work and business operations.
Percy is distinct from the typical AI tools deployed by other firms: powered by a purpose-built Legal Inference Engine and sitting entirely within Simmons’ network, it was meticulously developed in-house by the LLM team, led by Drew, and supported by a dedicated network of colleagues across the firm.
Commenting on his inclusion, Drew said: “I’m honoured to be recognised in The Lawyer’s Hot 100. This reflects the incredible work of our team at Simmons & Simmons and our commitment to driving meaningful change in the legal sector through AI innovation.”
