Aaron Crews, Littler Mendelson’s chief data analytics officer, is one of the legal industry’s few C-suite leaders dedicated exclusively to data analytics. Part of his work has been to expand Littler’s pay equity assessment tool, which takes a data-driven approach to conducting pay equity audits for clients. Crews is among the five finalists for the Innovator of the Year Award. The winner will be announced Nov. 6 as part of the California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. The Recorder recently asked Crews what it’s like to be a pioneering executive in Big Law.

The Recorder: What does it mean to you to be called an innovator?