Pinsent Masons, Travers Smith and easyJet were among the major winners at the 2021 Legal Business Awards, which returned as a live event following the pandemic, bringing together 600 guests in Covid-safe conditions at the Grosvenor House hotel on 30 September.
As is tradition, the event was preceded by a reception to mark the launch of our annual GC Powerlist – acknowledging the contribution of key general counsel (GCs) at influential businesses. Later, the main event got underway in the Great Room at Grosvenor House, with Legal Business managing editor Mark McAteer welcoming the guests to the evening’s proceedings and thanking them for a huge turn out at one of the first in-person events to take place for some time.
Hosted by prominent political figure William Hague – who entertained guests with a warm and light-hearted speech before ensuring the ceremony progressed smoothly – the evening saw Pinsents crowned Law Firm of the Year for a third time, with judges impressed by the firm’s desire to match strong financial performance with its commitment to ESG principles, client handling and innovation.
Travers, meanwhile picked up two awards, CSR Programme of the Year for its work tackling domestic violence, and David Patient – who led the firm with distinction as managing partner until handing the baton over in July – was named Management Partner of the Year.
Maakie de Bie, easyJet’s highly respected GC, was named GC of the Year while her legal team had a strong night overall. The airline also came Highly Commended in the In-House Team of the Year category behind the winner EDF Energy, while Rebecca Mills was Highly Commended in the Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year category in which Chris Thomas of Brewin Dolphin was chosen as the winner.
Elsewhere, US firms Cleary Gottlieb and Kirkland & Ellis enjoyed successful evenings. Cleary won Corporate Team of the Year for advising Euronext on its acquisition of Borsa Italiana from the London Stock Exchange, while the firm was runner-up in the CSR category to Travers. Kirkland was also a runner-up in the US Law firm of the Year category, which went to Simpson Thacher, but did pick up one of the most highly contested awards of the evening – Restructuring Team of the Year.
Elsewhere, Gowling WLG also deserves mention for being named joint runner-up in the TMT Team of the Year category, alongside Bristows, for their work on either side of the Oxford/AstraZeneca deal to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, while also winning Competition Team of the Year for successfully representing Preventx in a dispute with Royal Mail over access to the Freepost service. Sidley emerged victorious in the prestigious Private Equity Team of the Year category, while Freshfields was awarded Commercial Litigation Team of the Year after standing out for representing WEX in a groundbreaking material adverse cost case related to the Covid pandemic.
A special thanks goes to our external judging panel of prominent GCs who selected the deserved winners. They are: Kate Cheetham, group GC, Lloyds Banking Group; Chris Fowler, GC Technology, BT; Nigel Paterson, GC and company secretary, Dixons Carphone; Ruwan De Soyza, GC and company secretary, Xplor; Lucy Vernall, GC and chief people officer, Funding Circle; Christian Keim, head of international legal, Adobe; Neil Murrin, GC and director – regulatory affairs, Trainline; Angus McBride, GC, News UK; Geoffrey Timms, GC and company secretary, Legal & General; Matt Wilson, GC, Fremantle; Nayeem Syed, senior director – technology, procurement and IP, London Stock Exchange Group; and Kate Danson, group GC, SThree.
We would like to thank all our sponsors, without whom the Legal Business Awards and the GC Powerlist would not have been possible, and we are grateful to myriad amazing colleagues at Legalease for ensuring the night was a great success.
Head to the Legal Business Awards site to see our gallery of photos from the night.