Freeths, Freshfields and Vodafone take top prizes at Legal Business Awards

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Freeths, Freshfields and Vodafone take top prizes at Legal Business Awards

Freeths, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Vodafone were among the big winners at this year’s Legal Business Awards, which were revealed last night to a packed house at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Twenty-seven prizes were handed out on the night, with the event hosted by BBC journalist, broadcaster and Mastermind host Clive Myrie and introduced by global head of research and reporting Georgina Stanley (pictured right).

Freeths took the award for law firm of the year, narrowly pipping Freshfields, which was highly commended in the headline category. The national firm took the honour on the back of another consecutive year of double-digit growth, during which it also became one of the first law firms to achieve B Corp certification.

It also enjoyed an unprecedented year in the spotlight for its role in the Post Office inquiry, which was captured in the hugely successful Mr Bates vs The Post Office TV drama.

Freshfields went home with two of the top practice area awards, including corporate team of the year for successfully steering UBS through its historic acquisition of Credit Suisse, and competition team of the year for its work for Facebook parent company Meta on the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into its collection and use of advertising data.

The top two individual awards, Lawyer of the Year and Management Partner of the Year, went to DLA Piper’s Adam Ibrahim – described by one client as “the Magnus Carlsen of the banking litigation world – always three steps ahead of his opponent” – and former Allen & Overy senior partner Wim Dejonghe, for sealing the long-awaited, transformational transatlantic merger with Shearman & Sterling.

The award for US law firm of the year went to Paul Weiss, which has has made a huge splash in the London legal market over the last year, building a top tier English law practice at lightning speed through a series of eye-catching hires from leading UK and US firms.

The awards, which were decided on by a judging panel of senior business figures – including Lloyds Banking Group chief legal officer Kate Cheetham, Rio Tinto COO Chris Fowler, Financial Times GC Dan Guildford and News UK GC Angus McBride – also recognised the very best of the Bar and in-house.

Vodafone was named In-house Team of the Year after an eventful year which  included the proposed merger of Vodafone and Three’s UK businesses, the defence of the Phones4u litigation and a major in-house transformation project, while the company also shared the Legal Technology Team of the Year with TLT for their work on an interactive digital dawn raid simulator.

Awards host Clive Myrie

Everton Football Club chief legal counsel Katie Charles was named GC of the Year, while on the Bar side, Edward Henry KC of Mountford Chambers took the Barrister of Year award, with 3VB named Chambers of the Year.

The charity partner for the event was Hand in Hand International, which supports the 400 million women and girls around the world living below the poverty line by providing skills, education, training and resources to start their own businesses and generate jobs. Click here for more information on the charity’s work.

Full list of winners

Energy/Infrastructure Team of the Year – Baker Botts
Highly commended – Bracewell

Life Sciences Team of the Year – Gowling WLG
Highly commended – Pinsent Masons

Private Practice Lawyer of the Year – Adam Ibrahim, DLA Piper
Highly commended – Jenine Hulsmann, Weil

Barrister of the Year – Edward Henry KC, Mountford Chambers
Highly commended – Tahina Akther, Wildcat Law

Marketing Initiative of the Year – RPC
Highly commended – A&O Shearman

Boutique Law Firm of the Year – Milberg London
Highly commended – Powell Gilbert

Boutique Law Firm of the Year (outside London) – Hawkswell Kilvington
Highly commended – Han Law

Chambers of the Year – 3VB
Highly commended – Twenty Essex

Commercial Litigation Team of the Year – Mishcon de Reya
Highly commended – Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Competition Team of the Year – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Highly commended – Morgan Lewis

Corporate Team of the Year – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Highly commended – Latham & Watkins and Dorsey & Whitney

ESG Programme of the Year – Green Tech Legal Collaborative
Highly commended – Bates Wells

Finance Team of the Year – Baker McKenzie
Highly commended – DLA Piper

GC of the Year – Katie Charles, Everton Football Club
Highly commended – Keith Austin, DHL

In-House Team of the Year – Vodafone
Highly commended – BAE Systems

International Arbitration Team of the Year – Skadden
Highly commended – Vinson & Elkins

Law Firm of the Year – Freeths
Highly commended – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Legal Technology Team of the Year – TLT and Vodafone
Highly commended – Dentons

Management Partner of the Year – Wim Dejonghe, Allen & Overy
Highly commended – Jason Glover, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Most Transformative In-House Team of the Year – DHL
Highly commended – Jones Lang LaSalle

Private Client Team of the Year – Hughes Fowler Carruthers
Highly commended – Stevens & Bolton

Private Equity Team of the Year – Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Highly commended – Kirkland & Ellis

Real Estate Team of the Year – Eversheds Sutherland
Highly commended – Ashurst

Regional/Offshore Firm of the Year – Michelmores
Highly commended – Brodies

Restructuring Team of the Year – Kirkland & Ellis
Highly commended – Latham & Watkins

Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year – Amman Ayub, Advanz Pharma
Highly commended – Benedikt Meyer, American Express

US Law Firm of the Year – Paul Weiss
Highly commended – Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Cooley takes Taylor Wessing, Goodwin and White & Case partners in London rebuild

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Cooley takes Taylor Wessing, Goodwin and White & Case partners in London rebuild

Cooley has moved to bolster its London ranks following a number of recent senior departures with the hire of a trio of partners from Taylor Wessing, Goodwin and White & Case.

The US firm has recruited Angus Miln, Ali Ramadan and Helen Pantelides, all of who will join the emerging companies and venture capital (ECVC) practice in London. The hires come just weeks after Cooley’s London managing partner Justin Stock and two other transactional partners left to join Akin’s London office.

Miln, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for venture capital, joins Cooley after almost eight years at Taylor Wessing, where he led the VC practice. He also previously worked at Bird & Bird, where he made partner in 2008, as well as Latham & Watkins and Simmons & Simmons.

Pantelides, who made partner at White & Case last year, previously worked alongside Miln at Taylor Wessing before leaving to join the US firm in 2019.

The duo will be joined at Cooley by Legal 500 leading individual Ramadan, also an ex-Bird & Bird partner, who has spent the past five years at Goodwin after a brief stint at Orrick. All three focus on venture capital and high-growth companies , handling the life-cycle of corporate and financing matters for tech and life sciences clients.

London chief Stock, one of the founding partners of Cooley’s London office, quit the firm this summer, moving to US rival Akin with corporate head Stephen Rosen and fellow tech transactions partner David Bresnick.

The city base is now led by capital markets head Claire Keast-Butler and disputes head James Maton.

In a statement, Keast-Butler said: “Angus, Ali and Helen are among London’s most outstanding and well-regarded advisers to emerging companies and the venture capital industry. We are excited about the huge opportunity our expanded ECVC practice in London will bring as we continue to execute on our ambitious growth strategy.”

Keast-Butler has been at the firm since joining from Latham in 2019, while Maton is one of the remaining founding partners of Cooley’s London base, which opened in 2015.

The West Coast leader made a splashy launch in the City that year, taking partners from Morrison & Foerster and legacy Edwards Wildman Palmer to create a 55-lawyer UK practice.

Of the 20 partners who opened that office, just five now remain – Maton, Chris Coulter (tech transactions), Ann Bevitt (employment and privacy), Ryan Naftulin (corporate) and Laurence Harris (disputes).

According to its website, Cooley now has 30 partners in London and around 65 associates and counsel.

The firm recently appointed a new CEO to replace the long-serving Joe Conroy, who had held the position since 2008. Rachel Profitt stepped into the new role this January, with Conroy staying on as chairman.

AI: ‘Is it going to destroy humankind? No. The good parts are worth pursuing’

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AI: ‘Is it going to destroy humankind? No. The good parts are worth pursuing’

AI may appear to be a relatively nascent development but in reality this is far from the case. John McCarthy first coined the term back in 1956, and since then we have seen IBM’s Deep Blue and Watson machines beat chess and Jeopardy champions, and Apple create its virtual assistant, Siri. Now, the rise of generative AI models such as ChatGPT have not only significantly changed the performance of AI but have also caught the attention of the mainstream media, exploding into the public consciousness with their accessibility.

At a foundational level, AI uses computer science and datasets to enable problem-solving. The technology takes on a human-like function – learning, reading, writing, analysing and researching. AI can be applied to an extensive range of systems and products, from customer service and recommendation engines to supply chains and document creation, which effectively creates a new world of possibilities. Continue reading “AI: ‘Is it going to destroy humankind? No. The good parts are worth pursuing’”

The future is now – how tech expertise shot to the top of the agenda

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The future is now – how tech expertise shot to the top of the agenda

For law firms, tech credentials are perhaps more important than ever before. The AI revolution has captured the imagination of all forward-thinking advisers, with its potential to improve process, save costs, and impress clients.

And when it comes to tech clients, it isn’t just about the Apples or Alphabets of this world – with the UK ranking third globally for venture capital investment and home to more than 150 unicorn companies worth more than $1bn, firms are also chasing the next big thing. Continue reading “The future is now – how tech expertise shot to the top of the agenda”

The Client Profile: Christian Keim, Adobe

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The Client Profile: Christian Keim, Adobe

What inspired you to pursue a career in law, and how did you develop an interest in becoming an in-house lawyer?

There are a lot of different elements that came together. One is that I was always interested in mediating when someone was arguing or helping out if I felt like people were not heard or being treated unfairly. What I realised is that I like to create win-win situations, not someone winning and someone losing, but really finding ways that everyone can benefit from the situation. Continue reading “The Client Profile: Christian Keim, Adobe”