One of my duties as Legal Week's new editor-in-chief is to get more directly involved in the British Legal Awards, which this year meant reading, reviewing and grading the vast majority of entries to create the shortlists that go to our judging panel.

However, Legal Week's editorial team remains to a certain extent at arm's length from the awards, which we believe gives the process more independence. The primary means of achieving that independence is through a judging panel of senior industry figures, primarily general counsel and lawyers who have stepped back from the full-time practice of law.

One duty that our editorial team does retain is drawing up the shortlist for the flagship Law Firm of the Year award. The thinking for this is that this award relates so closely to our reporting on the profession that the team is well placed to identify strong performers for the judges to make the final decision on.

In the spirit of openness, we are once again publishing some thoughts on why the firms were shortlisted, which will also be put to the judges for the final verdict. The firms will also be given the opportunity to submit additional material if they wish. And, as is traditional, once again I'll be taking the credit if you win, but blaming the judges if you don't. Best of luck.

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Berwin Leighton Paisner

BLP has been a growth stock so long that some now forget that the legacy Berwin Leighton and Paisner & Co were both bywords for sleepy mid-tierdom back in the day. Looked at in this context, the 2001 merger that created BLP must now be regarded as one of the most successful legal mergers of the last 20 years.

Doubly impressive has been the firm's staying power, in that it has sustained its upward track through the economic cycle and has shown nerve and sure handling during the long downturn. As such, where other firms have cut back in real estate, BLP has strengthened its position in one of its calling-card practice areas.

The firm's financial performance was also respectable in 2011-12, with revenues rising 7.4% to £246m, while profitability and top-line growth have been robust over a five-year period. The firm was also one of the top-ranked for satisfaction of its own lawyers in the 2012 Employee Satisfaction Report. Achieving this, the firm has often been willing to kick against the herd, whether through its high-stakes launch in Russia or in backing ventures like its fast-growing Lawyers on Demand arm.

Much credit should go to managing partner Neville Eisenberg, who was confirmed in February for a fifth term. If there is any hint of complacency in Eisenberg after his enviable run of success, he hides it superbly, with the veteran law firm leader still casting a restless and self-critical eye over the empire.

Clifford Chance

This year's recovery story of London's big four, Clifford Chance (CC) saw revenues rise by 7% to hit £1.3bn while profits per equity partner were up 7.3% to £1.07m. While CC has not entirely recovered the ground it lost during a troubled 2009 and 2010 period, when revenue and profitability were savaged by the banking crisis, it has still been an emphatic return to form for one of the world's most influential law firms.

Financial performance has been matched but a strong run of mandates, advising on a string of big-ticket deals despite the thin deal market and regularly topping M&A rankings.

The firm has also looked sure-footed with its foreign expansion, this year seeing revenues grow by 28% to £185m in the key Asia-Pacific region and last year securing a well-regarded entry to the Australian legal market.

Challenges remain for the firm in its North American and Continental European practices and, arguably, CC has yet to entirely articulate its vision for the next five to 10 years but its comeback remains a significant achievement for one of this country's finest legal exports.

Latham & Watkins

After an uncharacteristic wobble during the banking crisis four years ago, Latham & Watkins has gone on to not only effectively regroup but demonstrate that its foreign network is now reaching an impressive state of maturity. The result has been a strong run of mandates – including recently advising on Euro Disney's refinancing; Manchester United's US stock listing and roles on the latest round of oil disposals by BP. Latham was also recently added to HSBC's global panel.

In London the firm has assembled a formidable array of talent, well reflecting Latham's global strengths in leveraged finance, projects, energy and infrastructure and restructuring (the office is also one of the top-rated in any class in Legal Week's 2012 Employee Satisfaction Report. Revenue performance has also been strong of late, with fee income up by 11.6% to $2.15bn (£1.33bn) in the year to December. One of global law's top brands is looking as potent as ever.

Mishcon de Reya

Somehow simultaneously classy and understated yet brashly modernist, Mishcon de Reya's unexpected storming of the UK legal market continues for another year, with the firm this year achieving startling revenue growth of 18.9% – against a top 50 average of 7.7% for 2011-12. It was enough to see the firm debut within the UK top 50 and came on the back of several years of rapid expansion (the firm is one of the fastest growing major UK firms over a five-year period with revenues up 152.1% since 2006-07).

The firm's strategy has often been marked by a quirky, contrarian style, whether it was investing during the downturn, its US launch or its astute experiments with branding. The latter has already attracted much attention, what with collaborations with the FT and Jazz FM and the move to reposition the firm's high-net offering as part of a wider stream of services under the Mishcon Private brand.

In a grey, hard-to-distinguish mid-tier, Mishcons continues to bring a welcome splash of colour, flair and entrepreneurial drive to the proceedings. Critics will argue that such growth can easily sow instability within a law firm, and Mishcons has at times looked a little over-pleased with itself, but it's hard to begrudge some self-satisfaction with results like these.

Olswang

If the commercial environment is currently unforgiving for drifting mid-tiers, Olswang is one of a number of firms that this year proved that well-run and clearly focused firms in this section of the market can still excel. With revenues this year up 16.7% to £108m, the firm appears to have recovered after a period several years back dominated by sluggish growth and a not-entirely successful attempt to re-badge itself as more than a modish media and telecoms boutique.

The firm has also moved to improve its pitch to large corporate clients, investing in secondments and partnering arrangements with a select band of leading clients (the firm's first-time appointment to BP's panel last year will be welcome in this regard).

Given its size, there is no doubt that Olswang faces some challenges with its current drive to go international, but progress has been made with recent launches in Singapore and Munich. If it can sustain its self-confidence, it's easy to see Olswang carving out a strong place in the market for years to come.

Travers Smith

It has been written off so many times as a firm whose London-centric strategy cannot keep pace with the internationalisation of law, but Travers Smith continues to weather far better than its critics predicted.

The secret has been in part keeping it simple, a focus on quality lawyers and maintaining a practice with enough breadth to be flexible but enough focus to punch above its weight in a handful of transactional areas. With profits per equity partner of £804,000 in 2011-12, Travers is also now one of the most profitable firms outside the magic circle.

As important, the firm retains one of the most cohesive partnerships in the City. Whether all this is enough to assure the long-term future of this proud institution will remain open to debate, but current form bodes well.

Click here for more on the British Legal Awards.