Runners up: Allen & Overy; Clifford Chance; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Kirkland & Ellis; Norton Rose

This award is a showcase for the outstanding work being handled by leading banking and restructuring practices, as clients seek to steer a way through choppy waters.

Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance and, in particular, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer impressed with the strength of their restructuring teams. A&O's work advising on the cross-border Schefenacker restructuring, which saw a Germany-based company take advantage of the more creditor-friendly insolvency regime in the UK, demonstrated its ability to handle the most demanding work. Its restructuring group has been involved heavily in the structured product market and the fallout from the sub-prime market collapse. The panel also praised A&O's bank lending and acquisition finance teams.

Like A&O, Clifford Chance has handled cutting-edge work in relation to structured investment vehicles, many of which went into receivership as a result of plummeting asset values and a lack of liquidity. Notable mandates include advising on the restructurings of Cheyne and Whistlejacket, investment funds with asset portfolios valued at $6.6bn (£4.5bn) and $7bn (£4.8bn) respectively.

Freshfields' team advised on high-profile mandates involving Northern Rock and Eurotunnel and has leveraged off its extensive European network to pick up cross-border restructuring work. Freshfields' Spanish and London offices, for example, have been working on three of the largest restructurings in Spain involving Martinsa Fadesa, Colonial and Metrovacesa.

Meanwhile, Norton Rose has established one of the leading Islamic finance practices on the back of standout deals such as advising the lead arrangers on the $2.5bn (£1.7bn) Shariah-compliant financing made available to an investment vehicle owned by Qatari Diar and the Candy brothers. Used to finance the acquisition of Chelsea Barracks from the Ministry of Defence, it was the largest Islamic financing arrangement so far on a UK property.

The only US banking practice on the shortlist, Kirkland & Ellis, has come a long way in a short space of time. Originally launched in 2004 to support the firm's powerful private equity team, it has since expanded into other areas and started to win clients off its own back, such as Industri Kapital and Montagu Private Equity. It has a strong reputation for advising private equity investors on debt buy-backs.

In the end, the panel of judges selected Linklaters to receive the award and singled out the firm for its technological innovation. The Silk Street firm impressed the panel with its leveraged term sheet generator, which gives banks competing on leveraged financings an edge by cutting down on drafting time, and its Blue Flag Basel 2 global alerts service, which monitors changes in the law that might affect banks' credit risk mitigation arrangements in 62 jurisdictions. Link-laters' banking practice saw double-digit growth in profitability over the previous year, and has been bolstered by the arrival of two leading partners – David Ereira and Brian Gray – from Freshfields.