Allen & Overy (A&O) senior partner David Morley picked up the law firm leader of the year award – the only award chosen by Legal Week's editorial team rather than the independent judging panel which decides the rest of the British Legal Awards.

Morley's win reflects not only the firm's performance over the last year but throughout his time at the helm. Since taking up a leadership role at A&O in 2003, first as managing partner and, since 2008 as senior partner, banking lawyer Morley has presided over impressive growth. Revenue has almost doubled to stand at £1.28bn in 2014-15, while profit per equity partner has increased by some 80% since 2002-03 to £1.21m.

The numbers for the last financial year represented a sixth consecutive year of record-breaking growth and pushed A&O ahead of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters by turnover for the first time, with A&O the only international magic circle firm to see revenues climb by more than 1% despite the impact of currency fluctuations on firms with significant overseas fee income.