My friend Patrick McKenna, of Edge International, sent me a press release announcing the two winners of this year's "InnovAction Awards," a contest held annually to identify firms that significantly stand out for initiatives in: (a) client service; (b) knowledge management; (c) market leadership; or (d) professional experience of their own lawyers.  It is open to firms of all sizes and types, worldwide.

The awards are co-sponsored by Edge and the College of Law Practice Management, and evidently their standards are rigorous insofar as there were no awards for client service, KM or "professional experience" despite "a good number of submissions, from four different countries."  But the killer was "there was nothing particularly unique about many of them."  (No snide remarks, you in the back, about law firms' record of innovation.)

The winners:

• The familiar DLA Piper Rudnick for a service I wish had existed when I was CEO of a dot-com:  Their "Venture Pipeline" initiative, launched in 2002 as a separate business unit and run by experienced entrepreneurs, to help early stage companies.  (Using DLA Piper for your IPO is not a condition of getting help.)
• The unfamiliar (my loss) Simpson Grierson of New Zealand for a comprehensive, all-hands market positioning campaign communicating the firm's radical make-over.

Innovation is devoutly to be wished; congratulations to the recipients.   And for those of you with stalled or still-born initiatives on your desk, let those blocking your road know about these awards—why shouldn't you be in Vancouver next September accepting one?