Lee Ranson

Lee is the Chief Executive of Eversheds Sutherland International.

A commercial litigator by background, Lee has spent his entire professional career at Eversheds Sutherland. He led the Real Estate and Real Estate Litigation group before serving as Managing Partner from 2009. He became Chief Executive in May 2017 and was elected for a second term with effect from May 2021.

During his time as Managing Partner, Lee led the rapid expansion of the firm across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2017, The Lawyer magazine named him in The Hot 100 in the ‘Law Firm Leaders’ category for his role in leading the firm in its successful transatlantic merger. The firm is now located in 74 offices in 35 countries, with global revenues in excess of US$1.2 billion. Since becoming Chief Executive, revenue has increased by over 35%. In 2020, Legal Business named Eversheds Sutherland ‘Law Firm of the Year’.

Lee is passionate about the power of organisational culture to effect change, and personally leads on the firm’s diversity and inclusion programme. In 2018, Eversheds Sutherland was named as one of the best law firms for diversity by the general counsel community in recognition of its inclusive and collaborative approach. In one of his first acts as Chief Executive, Lee led the relaunch of the firm’s LGBT+ network, with membership increasing by over 1,000% in the first year. Involve, the global network and consultancy which champions diversity and inclusion in business, has named Lee as both an Ally Role Model and HERoes Advocate. The firm has set ambitious targets for gender representation at partner level and, in 2019, was one of the first law firms to do the same for ethnicity. It was also one of the first firms to voluntarily report on its ethnicity pay gap data.

At the forefront of the legal sector’s thinking around purpose-led organisations and the wider ESG and responsible business agenda, in 2019 Lee led the firm’s launch of its purpose and refreshed values with a particular focus on supporting communities, wellbeing and environmental sustainability. During his tenure as Chief Executive, the firm has become a participant in the UN Global Compact and, as part of this, the firm has committed to being net zero by 2050.

A strong believer in the role that sport can play in driving social mobility and inclusion, Lee has a longstanding connection with the charity SportsAid and is a Sport England ‘Backing the Best’ panel member, helping athletes develop through the provision of critical financial assistance. He is also a 30% coach and a volunteer for the 1 Hour Project.

Lee is married and has three amazing children and one naughty dog. He is a lifelong and optimistic supporter of Nottingham Forest F.C. and loves collecting books, especially history books, faster than he will ever be able to read them.