Could it be your year? Nominations are now open for the most prestigious showcase of talent in the industry, the Legal Business Awards 2019.
The event will take place on Thursday 28 March 2019 at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London. You have until 16 November to provide submissions in any of the 25 categories open to teams or individuals.
For the full category line up and FAQs about the awards, as well as a list of this year’s winners, click here. But as every award is hotly contested, with only an average of six nominations in each category, here’s some tips that will help you make the most of your achievements:
Not just for law firms
The practice area awards (eg Corporate Team of the Year) are open not just to law firms, but chambers, alternative providers and in-house teams as well. Certain merit awards (eg CSR Team of the Year) are also open to chambers, alternative providers and in-house teams also.
Joint submissions
Joint submissions are welcomed and we have had joint winners in previous years. However, the awards aim to single out individuals and organisations as best-in-breed. Where it is clear one party has made the most significant contribution, it is likely that team alone will be shortlisted.
UK-based lead on matters
The practice area awards are open to any organisation practising in the UK but to be eligible, the team must be led by an individual working out of a UK or Channel Islands office (with the exception of Competition Team of the Year which will also consider teams working out of Brussels).
Matters must be completed
Do not include outstanding matters, especially disputes that are likely to go to appeal or deals that could yet face significant regulatory hurdles. The practice area awards recognise teams that have achieved successful outcomes for clients, which cannot be established if a matter is still in the air.
The practice area awards relate to matters completed in the calendar year 2018 only, although we will considers matters that closed at the end of 2017 after the nominations process for the 2018 awards closed.
Multiple matters
You are welcome to submit more than once in each category but each matter should be submitted separately. However, please look at the category criteria. Very often with the practice area awards, we are looking to award a team for its outstanding performance in one specific matter. In many cases if you cannot identify a standout deal or case from a cluster, neither will we. Arguably it is better to concentrate efforts on producing one knockout submission than diluting the impact with multiple matters, unless it is a suite of deals for one client that sit together.
Keep it brief
Format and style are irrelevant but getting to the point is important. We ask for no more than 600 words per submission to encourage nominees to stick to the salient facts. By all means provide links to supplementary information or clippings that support your submission but do not waste space with boilerplate text about your organisation’s core values or a list of academic articles written by the lead individual on the team.
Include client feedback where appropriate
Including positive quotes from clients in your submission about the contribution made by the team, individual or organisation will carry more weight than anything else.
Best of luck – we look forward to receiving your entries. If you have any questions at all relating to your submissions or the criteria, please contact Mark McAteer. Last year more than 900 guests saw Fieldfisher named Law firm of the Year, while The Carlyle Group took the In-House Team of the Year accolade. With 2018 already seeing many teams enjoying exceptional levels of performance, we anticipate very strong competition across all categories.
mark.mcateer@legalease.co.uk
