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.