Latham & Watkins, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and A&O Shearman are among the most-nominated firms at the 27th annual Legal Business Awards, the shortlist for which has been unveiled today (click here for the full list of nominees).
The trio, which have a total of 18 nominations between them, are all up for the prestigious Law Firm of the Year prize. To win, they will have to see off competition from fellow nominees Brodies, Burges Salmon, Freeths, Osborne Clarke, Pinsent Masons and Paul Weiss at the ceremony on 17th September at Grosvenor House.
The annual awards ceremony will celebrate the brightest and the best law firms, in-house teams and individuals across the legal profession.
Slaughter and May, Skadden, Macfarlanes and Eversheds Sutherland are among the firms competing for the Corporate Team of the Year award, while Paul Hastings, Ashurst, Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin impressed the judging panel to secure spots on the Private Equity Team of the Year shortlist.
Big names on the Lawyer of the Year and Management Partner of the Year shortlist include Neel Sachdev London co-head Paul Weiss, Weil competition heavyweight Jenine Hulsmann, former Allen & Overy senior partner Wim Dejonghe, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett London head Jason Glover and outgoing DLA Piper chief Simon Levine.
Duking it out to be named In-House Team of the Year are companies including BAE Systems, Banco Santander, E.ON and Vodafone, while the GC of the Year shortlist includes DHL head of global legal services Keith Austin, Arm chief legal officer Spencer Collins and Everton Football Club chief legal counsel Katie Charles.
Finalists for the highly sought-after ESG Programme of the Year include Bates Wells, Eversheds Sutherland, Linklaters, Pinsent Masons, Shoosmiths, and Weil.
The awards will be hosted by BBC news anchor, Mastermind host and highly experienced foreign correspondent Clive Myrie.
The external judging panel of senior lawyers who will select the winners includes Financial Times GC Dan Guildford, Fremantle GC Matthew Wilson, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GC Clare Wardle, News UK GC Angus McBride and Lloyds Banking Group chief legal officer Kate Cheetham, as well as Legal 500 global head of research and reporting Georgina Stanley.
Notable winners at last year’s awards include TLT, which was named Law Firm of the Year and shared the Competition Team of the Year prize with Linklaters.
