The 20th annual Legal Business Awards were presented in front of 900 guests in a gala ceremony on 23 March, hosted by respected newscaster Alastair Stewart.
The event was preceded by a reception to mark the launch of our fifth annual GC Powerlist which, under the unifying title The Clients of Tomorrow, looked at both the outstanding rising star in-house counsel and high-growth companies with the prospects of becoming the global giants of tomorrow. At the gathering, which included key representatives from FTSE 100 companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Telefónica and RSA, Legal Business editor-in-chief Alex Novarese said this year’s report was the most challenging yet to research but also probably the most interesting.
‘Identifying the outstanding names already at the top of their game is relatively straightforward,’ he said, ‘but credibly finding the lawyers of the future – that takes some doing.’
Then it was time to move to the Great Room at Grosvenor House for this year’s Legal Business Awards. Mishcon de Reya was named Law Firm of the Year for the second time in five years, winning the most coveted award for what has been a startling run over the last decade.
A&O was one of the night’s main winners, picking up two awards: Competition Team of the Year and Legal Innovator of the Year, the latter thanks to the successful launch of its MarginMatrix product and collaboration with Deloitte. Meanwhile, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer picked up one of the most sought-after practice awards, Private Equity Team of the Year, for its role advising Advent International on the £1.5bn sale of the Priory Group to Acadia Healthcare.
Our Lawyer of the Year award this year was given to commemorate the work and life of the late Frances Murphy of Slaughter and May, one of the finest City M&A partners of her generation. Meanwhile, Macfarlanes’ senior partner Charles Martin was recognised as Management Partner of the Year.
In other key practice categories, Clifford Chance was selected as Corporate Team of the Year for its role advising National Australia Bank on the three-and-a-half-year long demerger and subsequent listing of CYBG; while Ropes & Gray won Finance Team of the Year for advising Virgin Media on two innovative transactions. In one of the most competitive slots, Latham & Watkins was named US Law Firm of the Year.
Other major awards saw Virgin Media’s legal team named In-House Team of the Year for its role in the success of two major initiatives for the company in the last year, while Scotland’s leading independent, Brodies, picked up National/Regional Firm of the Year after a very strong 2016.
The winners were selected by an external judging panel comprising the following senior general counsel (GCs): Nilema Bhakta-Jones, group legal director of Ascential Group; Claire Chapman, GC and company secretary of Daily Mail and General Trust; Kate Cheetham, GC at Lloyds Banking Group; Kirsty Cooper, group GC and company secretary at Aviva; Claire Debney, director of legal strategy at Shire; Chris Fowler, GC UK commercial for BT; Financial Times GC Dan Guildford; Geoffrey Timms, GC and company secretary at Legal & General Group; Zoopla Property Group GC Ned Staple; Nigel Paterson, GC at Dixons Carphone; Nayeem Syed, assistant GC, financial and risk at Thomson Reuters; and Tony Williams of Jomati Consultants as well as Alex Novarese and Mark McAteer from Legal Business.
We would like to thank our headline sponsors NatWest for the Legal Business Awards and RPC for the GC Powerlist, as well as all our other commercial partners, for ensuring a memorable night for all involved.
TMT TEAM OF THE YEAR
Bristows
Myles Jelf
Successfully advising Samsung in a landmark patent dispute in the Court of Appeal
Sponsored by the International Bar Association
FINANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Ropes & Gray
Jane Rogers
Advising Virgin Media on two innovative financings
Sponsored by Intelligent Office UK
INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION TEAM OF THE YEAR
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Karyl Nairn QC
Securing victory for the government of the Republic of South Sudan in its dispute with Sudapet
Sponsored by V&P Global
RESTRUCTURING TEAM OF THE YEAR
Ashurst
Giles Boothman
Advising EnQuest on its financial restructuring
Sponsored by Saunderson House
COMPETITION TEAM OF THE YEAR
Allen & Overy
Antonio Bavasso
Advice to VimpelCom on the creation of the WIND/3 Italia joint venture
Sponsored by Deacon Search
ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE TEAM OF THE YEAR
CMS Cameron McKenna
Munir Hassan
Landmark work for the Mexican Ministry of Energy on the reform of its electricity industry
Sponsored by SR Search
COMMERCIAL LITIGATION TEAM OF THE YEAR
Boies, Schiller & Flexner
Natasha Harrison
Obtaining the first summary judgment in the new Financial List for client Barclays
Sponsored by InfoTrack
PRIVATE CLIENT TEAM OF THE YEAR
Irwin Mitchell
Ros Bever
Victory in the Court of Appeal with the headline civil partnership dispute Roocroft v Ball
Sponsored by Coutts
INSURANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Bond Dickinson
Jonathan Drake
Groundbreaking work for AIG on the design of its Crowdfunding Fidelity insurance policy
Sponsored by Willis Towers Watson
CORPORATE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Clifford Chance
David Pudge
Representing National Australia Bank on the three-and-a-half year long demerger and subsequent listing of CYBG
Sponsored by JLT Specialty
PRIVATE EQUITY TEAM OF THE YEAR
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Adrian Maguire
Advising Advent International on its £1.5bn sale of the Priory Group to Acadia Healthcare
Sponsored by Hodgart Associates
REAL ESTATE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Gowling WLG/Hogan Lovells
Richard Beckingsale; Nicholas Roberts
Advising on the regeneration of Brent Cross Cricklewood – one of the largest mixed-use developments in the UK
Sponsored by Hawksford
BOUTIQUE LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
Three Crowns
Constantine Partasides QC
Challenging the status quo of the international arbitration market
Sponsored by Cogence Search
LAWYER OF THE YEAR
Frances Murphy
Slaughter and May
Commemorating the passing of one of the finest M&A lawyers of a generation
Sponsored by Cantab Asset Management
CSR PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR
Gowling WLG
Lorna Gavin
Collaborating to create the Suited for Success charity
Sponsored by Fox Rodney Search
INTERNATIONAL FIRM OF THE YEAR
Vieira de Almeida
João Vieira de Almeida
Remaining at the top of its game in a tough Portuguese market
Sponsored by SSQ
RISING STAR IN-HOUSE COUNSEL OF THE YEAR
Ahsan Gulabkhan
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Consistent work on the airline’s largest and most complex matters
Sponsored by Pure Search
IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Virgin Media
Mine Hifzi
Legal team key to the success of two major initiatives for the company in the last year
Sponsored by Conduent
MANAGEMENT PARTNER OF THE YEAR
Charles Martin
Macfarlanes
Being central to each impressive turn this City heavyweight has made
Sponsored by Signium International
US LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
Latham & Watkins
Jay Sadanandan
Further establishing itself as a market leader in the world’s key financial centres
Sponsored by Edwards Gibson
LEGAL INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
Allen & Overy
David Wakeling
Developing automated product MarginMatrix and collaborating with Deloitte
Sponsored by William Fry
LEGAL TECHNOLOGY TEAM OF THE YEAR
Linklaters
Matt Peers
Developing its own bank ringfencing tool, LinkRFI
Sponsored by Mason & Cook
NATIONAL/REGIONAL FIRM OF THE YEAR
Brodies
Bill Drummond
Cementing its position as one of the leading Scottish independents
Sponsored by The Law Society of Scotland
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
Mishcon de Reya
Kevin Gold
Across many financial metrics the law firm to beat for a decade
Sponsored by NatWest
For further information and to see more photos from the night, please refer to the Legal Business Awards supplement and webpages.