City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement Award

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This award is in the gift of the City of London Law Society.

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Open to commercial law firms that have significant operations in the UK (more than 20 UK-based partners).

Entries must convince the judges that they are not only leaders in their chosen markets, but that they have made significant progress over the past 12-18 months.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

sustainable improvements in financial performance
client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm’s performance.

London office of the year

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Open to the London offices of international law firms that are not headquartered in the UK.

Entries must convince the judges that they are not only leaders in their chosen markets, but that they have made significant progress over the past 12-18 months.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

sustainable improvements in financial performance
client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the office’s performance.

Europe, Middle East, Africa firm of the year

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Open to non-UK business law firms that are headquartered in Europe, the Middle East or Africa.

Entries must convince the judges that they are not only leaders in their chosen markets, but that they have made significant progress over the past 12-18 months.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

sustainable improvements in financial performance
client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm’s performance.

Regional law firm of the year

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Open to UK commercial law firms that are based outside London.

Entries must convince the judges that they are not only leaders in their chosen markets, but that they have made significant progress over the past 12-18 months.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

sustainable improvements in financial performance
client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm’s performance.

Off-shore law firm of the year

Open to off-shore law firms.

Entries must convince the judges that they are not only leaders in their chosen markets, but that they have made significant progress over the past 12-18 months.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

sustainable improvements in financial performance
client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm’s performance.

Chambers of the year

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The judges will expect to see evidence of:

client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Legal department of the year

Open to global or regional company legal departments that are either based in, or have a significant presence in, the UK.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

sustainable improvements in financial performance
client satisfaction (including up to three client references)
employee satisfaction
technical innovation
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Managing/senior partner of the year

Open to the managing partners, senior partners and chief executives of commercial law firms who are based in the UK.

Depending on the entrants’ precise role, the judges will expect to see evidence of:

leadership
strategic vision
client care (including up to three client references)
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight concrete – and preferably measurable - ways in which the entrant has contributed to the success of the firm over the last 12-18 months.

General counsel of the year

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Open to general counsel or legal department heads who are based in the UK.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

leadership
strategic vision
troubleshooting and technical skills
client care (including up to three references from senior company executives)
a commitment to diversity and corporate social responsibility

The entry submission should highlight concrete – and preferably measurable - ways in which the entrant has contributed to the success of his or her company over the last 12-18 months.

Young corporate counsel of the year

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Open to in house lawyers with up to 15 years’ post qualification experience.

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

leadership potential within and outside the company
technical skills
initiative
client relationship skills (including up to three references)

Young solicitor of the year

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Open to UK-based assistant solicitors and associates

Judges will be looking for evidence of:

leadership potential within and outside the firm
technical skills
initiative
client relationship and marketing skills (including up to three client references)

Crossborder M&A team of the year

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Open to UK-based teams that can demonstrate a track record of regularly handling the largest, most complex multi-jurisdictional deals.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

M&A team of the year

Open to UK-based teams that specialise in advising on domestic M&A work.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Banking/restructuring team of the year

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Open to specialist UK-based teams working in the banking and restructuring arena. Typical disciplines will include loans, acquisition finance and insolvency. Each submission should focus on a single discipline. Departments can submit more than one entry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Capital markets team of the year

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Open to specialist UK-teams focusing in the capital markets arena. Typical disciplines will include bonds, new issues (including on the Alternative Investment Market), derivatives and structured finance. Each submission should focus on a single discipline. Departments can submit more than one entry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Property team of the year

Open to specialist UK-based property teams. Typical disciplines will include property transactions, large-scale developments, property finance, funds and planning. Each submission should focus on a single discipline. Departments can submit more than one entry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Litigation and regulatory team of the year

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Open to specialist UK-based litigation and regulatory teams. Typical disciplines will include commercial litigation, arbitration and regulatory law. Each submission should focus on a single discipline. Departments can submit more than one entry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Employment, pensions, benefits and tax team of the year

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Open to specialist UK-based litigation and regulatory teams working in the disciplines of employment, pensions, benefits and tax. Each submission should focus on a single discipline. Departments can submit more than one entry.

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

Private client and family team of the year

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Open to specialist UK-based private client and (high net worth) family teams. Each submission should focus on one these disciplines.

The judges will be looking for evidence:

business-winning
technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
improved financial performance against a variety of measures
team working
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight instructions, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

In-house commercial team of the year

Open to in-house legal teams that are based in the UK and that undertake commercial work. Typical disciplines will include litigation, regulatory and employment. Each submission should focus on a single discipline.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
efficiency
team working, including with other parts of the business and outside advisers (where relevant)
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight work and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

In-house deal team of the year

Open to in-house legal teams that are based in the UK and that undertake deal work. Entries may either focus on a single deal, such as a large acquisition, or a series of deals.

The judges will expect to see evidence of:

technical innovation
positive client feedback (including up to three client references)
efficiency
team working, including with other parts of the business and outside advisers (where relevant)
talent nurturing and retention

The entry submission should highlight work and initiatives that best exemplify the team’s performance over the last 12-18 months.

CSR project of the year

Open to commercial law firms, legal departments and chambers that have significant operations in the UK (more than 20 partners in the case of law firms).

The judges will be looking for a project that has effectively delivered its corporate and social responsibility objectives. This could be an international, national or local project and should demonstrate a coherent and integrated approach to the practical demonstration of CSR policies in action, and how the CSR project is aligned with the firm, company or chambers’ strategic goals.

Best use of technology

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Open to commercial law firms, legal departments and chambers that have significant operations in the UK (more than 20 partners in the case of law firms).

The judges will be looking for a project that has played a critical role in the improvement of the performance of a firm, department or chambers. The judges will look favourably upon imaginative, well-executed projects that are delivered on time and within budget. The entry submission should include evidence of the benefits that the project has brought to the firm or legal department.

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