Clifford Chance (CC), Mishcon de Reya, Osborne Clarke and DLA Piper are among those vying to win prizes at what promises to be the largest-ever Legal Business Awards.
The firms are among those nominated as we unveil the shortlists today (9 March) for the awards ahead of the ceremony, which will be held on 24 March at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London.
Mishcon and OC are joined by Latham & Watkins, Travers Smith, Macfarlanes and Watson Farley & Williams in contention for the biggest award of the night: Law Firm of the Year. Mishcon managing partner Kevin Gold is also up against OC’s Simon Beswick and Stephenson Harwood’s Sharon White as Management Partner of the Year.
CC, meanwhile, features heavily in the major practice awards, including Finance Team of the Year, where the firm is shortlisted alongside Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Norton Rose Fulbright, Reed Smith, Sidley Austin and Simmons & Simmons.
The shortlist for Corporate Team of the Year is Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Covington & Burling, HSF, Linklaters, Macfarlanes, OC and Slaughter and May.
This year we introduce two new categories: Boutique of the Year and Legal Innovator. The former sees Candey, Curtis Davis Garrard, Signature Litigation, Volterra Fietta, Wiggin and Zyda Law compete, while the innovation shortlist is Berwin Leighton Paisner, CMS Cameron McKenna, DWF, Mishcon, Pinsent Masons and Wiggin.
Bluechip legal teams up for the main in-house award are AIG, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Royal Mail, SSE and Telefónica UK.
The night, which is being hosted by distinguished broadcaster Jeremy Paxman, is set to attract well over 1,000 guests and will be preceded by a reception to mark this year’s GC Power List report.
In a special award to mark the 25th anniversary of Legal Business, the magazine will also name a single individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession over that period.
In a further change this year, Legal Business has introduced an external judging panel to increase scrutiny. The distinguished panel of judges comprise a range of senior general counsel: Michael Shaw (Barclays); Andrew Whittaker (Lloyds Banking Group); Robert Ivens (Marks & Spencer); Adrian de Souza (Land Securities); Siobhan Moriarty (Diageo); Michael Herlihy (Smiths Group); Kirsty Cooper (Aviva); Claire Chapman (Daily Mail and General Trust) and Alison Kay (National Grid). Also on the panel, alongside editor-in-chief Alex Novarese and managing editor Mark McAteer, are Jomati founder Tony Williams and Paul Gilbert of LBC Wise Counsel.
alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk
The Legal Business Awards 2015 shortlists:
TMT Team of the Year
Bristows
Covington & Burling
Harbottle & Lewis
Royal Mail
RPC
Simmons & Simmons
Taylor Wessing
Restructuring Team of the Year
Allen & Overy
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
DLA Piper
Herbert Smith Freehills
Slaughter and May
Competition Team of the Year
Ashurst
Berwin Leighton Paisner
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
King & Wood Mallesons
Shearman & Sterling
Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year
Dentons
DLA Piper
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Herbert Smith Freehills
Hogan Lovells
Slaughter and May
Dispute Resolution Team of the Year
Eversheds
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hausfeld
Mishcon de Reya
Weil, Gotshal & Manges
White & Case
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
Finance Team of the Year
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Herbert Smith Freehills
Norton Rose Fulbright
Reed Smith
Sidley Austin
Simmons & Simmons
Private Client Team of the year
Addleshaw Goddard
Boodle Hatfield
Burges Salmon
Mills & Reeve
Taylor Wessing
Withers
Insurance Team of the Year
Ashurst
Clifford Chance
DAC Beachcroft
Hogan Lovells
Pinsent Masons
Simmons & Simmons
Corporate Team of the Year
Covington & Burling
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Herbert Smith Freehills
Linklaters
Macfarlanes
Osborne Clarke
Slaughter and May
Private Equity Team of the Year
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Shearman & Sterling
Travers Smith
Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Real Estate Team of the Year
Addleshaw Goddard
Ashurst
Baker & McKenzie
Clyde & Co
Hogan Lovells
K&L Gates
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co
Boutique of the Year
Candey
Curtis Davis Garrard
Signature Litigation
Volterra Fietta
Wiggin
Zyda Law
Lawyer of the Year
Bob Dell, Latham & Watkins
Sir Nigel Knowles, DLA Piper
Rosemary Martin, Vodafone
Angus McBride, Kingsley Napley
CSR Programme of the Year
Allen & Overy
Baker & McKenzie
Clyde & Co
Dentons
Paul Hastings
Reed Smith
White & Case
International Firm of the Year
Garrigues
Goltsblat BLP
Integrites
Matheson
NCTM
Noerr
Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year
Kent Dreadon, Telefónica UK
Martin Graham, Oaktree
Howard Landes, BG Group
Jenny Lowe, Aggregate Industries
Alice Marsden, Thomas Cook
Kumar Tewari, Lloyds Banking Group
In-House Team of the Year
AIG Europe
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Coca-Cola Enterprises
Royal Mail
SSE
Telefónica UK
Management Partner of the Year
Simon Beswick, Osborne Clarke
Bill Drummond, Brodies
Kevin Gold, Mishcon de Reya
Bryan Hughes, Eversheds
Sharon White, Stephenson Harwood
US Law Firm of the Year
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Jones Day
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Paul Hastings
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
Ropes & Gray
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Legal Innovator of the Year
Berwin Leighton Paisner
CMS Cameron McKenna
DWF
Mishcon de Reya
Pinsent Masons
Wiggin
Legal Technology Team of the Year
Ashurst
Axiom
Keoghs
King & Wood Mallesons
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co
National/Regional Firm of the Year
Bond Dickinson
Brodies
DWF
Foot Anstey
Mills & Reeve
Stevens & Bolton
TLT
Outstanding Individual Achievement – 25 Years
To be announced by Legal Business at the ceremony
Law Firm of the Year
Latham & Watkins
Macfarlanes
Mishcon de Reya
Osborne Clarke
Travers Smith
Watson Farley & Williams
