Oliver Bray, who heads RPC's commercial team, is praised by clients who responded to Legal Week's 2015 Best Legal Adviser survey for the depth of his industry knowledge, his "enthusiasm and sensible approach to our issues" and for being "unfazed".

Bray joined RPC in 2001 and became a partner in 2005. He specialises in commercial contracts and advertising, and his clients include Google/YouTube, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Pizza Express, Associated Newspapers, McArthurGlen and UBM.

He has been assisting Google's commercial team on agreements and branding advice and advises major brands on all aspects of their commercial activities, covering a wide range of contract, branding and digital-related work. He is chairman of the City of London Law Society's commercial law committee, and also helps lead RPC's data breach response service, ReSecure.

What is the key to good client relations? It's about being in sync with your clients on a personal and on a business level. Understand what they need and look after them; help them shine. It is as simple as that.

How do you see the relationship between partners and clients developing in the future? In a world of increasingly sophisticated in-house legal teams, the personal relationship between the partner and the client becomes more and more important. The partners who will succeed are those who combine emotional intelligence with the specialist advice clients really need. It will be less about managing old-style private practice teams.

What tips would you offer young lawyers/new partners just starting to build a client base? It's never too early to start building your personal network of contacts. Write down your contacts and nurture them. Revisit them regularly and find out what they are doing. If you don't do that, they will drift away. Above all, be enthusiastic about what you do. That is absolutely crucial.

What do in-house counsel most value from their external lawyers/law firms…and where do people most often slip up? Clients value advisers who are prepared to invest in the relationship for the long term. Always look at ways of adding value, both to the jobs at hand and to the client's business as a whole. And, if there is a hiccup in that relationship, which does happen from time to time, the best advisers simply deal with it head on and find a solution as quickly as possible. It's all about making life as smooth as possible for your client.

The full Best Legal Adviser report will be published this January. For more information email [email protected] or call her on +44 (0)207 316 9864  .

Click here to return to the Client Partner of the Year award page, or click here to return to the full list of British Legal Awards winners.

For more, see:

• The night in pictures – a photo gallery from the evening • The winners in pictures – a photo gallery of the awards presentations • The awards as they happened: take a look back at our live blog • Law Firm of the Year: why we selected the firms on the shortlist