Tonight (24 November), eight firms will battle it out for the coveted Law Firm of the Year award at the British Legal Awards.

The finalists were shortlisted by Legal Week's editorial team, with the winner selected by an independent judging panel of heavyweight names, including GCs from companies such as BAE Systems, Aviva, HSBC, Barclays, Virgin Media, ASOS, Telefonica and EE, as well as a host of senior non-execs and former law firm partners.

Ahead of tonight's event, which will be hosted by David Mitchell, we explain why we selected those on the shortlist, whose submissions were judged on criteria including innovation, strategic vision, client care and employee development.

Latham & Watkins As the largest law firm in the world by revenue, Latham has already set itself apart from its UK and US peers globally. During 2015-16, the firm has raised its game further with significant expansion across major financial hubs in London, New York, Asia and the US.

In London, Latham has brought in no fewer than 11 new partners, including bank finance partner Stephen Kensell from Allen & Overy, restructuring partner Simon Baskerville and regulatory partner Rob Moulton from Ashurst, and Sanjev Warna-kula-suriya from Slaughter and May.

And the firm has more high profile hires on the way in the City, as it prepares to take on the magic circle in mainstream M&A, a practice where to date it has not built the same reputation in London.

The firm's growth has not been restricted to the UK, with at least five partners added across Asia and multiple hires in the US, particularly in disputes, where the hire of Freshfields executive partner Michael Lacovara demonstrated that the magic circle firms do not just have to watch their backs in London.

Key recent mandates have included advising Globe Specialty Metals on its $3.1bn merger with Cybertronics, and advising JP Morgan Securities and the other lead arrangers on the acquisition debt financing connected with ChemChina's purchase of Pirelli.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields' position as a leading player within the magic circle has never been in doubt, but the last 18 months have seen the normally staid UK firm transform its operating model.

In the months since partners elected a new leadership team with Ed Braham at the helm, Freshfields has launched a legal services centre in Manchester that already houses more than 350 staff, and confirmed plans to open a second centre in Canada. It has also opted to take on smaller space in the City when the lease on its long-term home in Fleet Street expires in 2021, saving costs by moving jobs out of London.

The firm's profitability drive appears to be paying off, with 2015-16 a strong year for the firm compared with many of its UK rivals, after a comparatively disappointing 2014-15. Revenue climbed 6.6% to £1.33bn, with profit per equity partner (PEP) up 7.6% to £1.47m.

And while its M&A team may be feeling the loss of veteran rainmaker Mark Rawlinson, its list of mandates during the past year is impressive. Standout deals the firm has worked on include AB InBev's $79bn acquisition of SABMiller, London Stock Exchange Group's proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's $8.8bn sale of its software division to Micro Focus, and the sale of Formula 1 to Liberty Media.

Clifford Chance Clifford Chance (CC) spent a while looking like the sick man of the magic circle. However, under the leadership of new managing partner Matthew Layton (pictured), the firm looks to be on a bit of a roll.

Revenue in 2015-16 hit a record high of £1.386bn, while PEP soared by almost 10% to £1.2m. Significantly, its troublesome US practice looks to be finally emerging from the shadow of the Rogers & Wells merger, with revenue in the practice up 13%.

Some of how the firm has achieved this turnaround may not sound glamourous – 'continuous improvement' hardly trips off the tongue – but the savings are impossible to dispute. Last year, it made more than £7m of operational savings through new projects, and the firm also launched a new legal support centre in Delhi. It also became a relatively early adopter of artificial intelligence technology, through a deal with Kira.

And of course, it also won its fair share of mandates, advising AB InBev shareholders on the financing for the SABMiller takeover, acting for EDF on China General Nuclear Power Corporation's controversial £6bn investment in the Hinkley nuclear power project, and representing Citi on the bank's successful defence against Terra Firm's £1.5bn suit in the High Court.

White & Case Last year, White & Case chairman Hugh Verrier (pictured) set out a plan to ramp up the firm's presence in the US and London, as well as key sectors such as oil and gas and financial institutions. Since then, the firm has been busy demonstrating it is definitely not just all talk.

In 2015, the US firm opened in Dubai and Seoul, while so far in 2016 it has announced openings in Boston, Cairo and Australia, through the hire of some 10 partners from fellow Law Firm of the Year contender Herbert Smith Freehills, many of whom fit with the firm's push in energy.

Last year the firm brought in 18 laterals, 10 of whom joined in EMEA – including white collar partner Jonathan Pickworth from Dechert. To date in 2016, the firm has already added 22 new laterals globally, eight of whom are in London, including former Berwin Leighton Paisner tax head Michael Wistow and M&A partner Patrick Sarch from Clifford Chance.

Again, demonstrating its commitment to London, eight of the firm's 31 partner promotions in 2015 were in the City. The same number are set to join the partnership in London as part of a 40-strong global partner promotion round in 2016.

Despite all of this expansion, the firm posted solid financial results for 2015, with revenue up to $1.523bn and PEP to $2.02m. UK turnover stood at around $283m, consolidating its position as a significant player in the UK legal market in its own right. Fittingly, the firm achieved a good position in the Mergermarket rankings, with high profile London matters including advising Mizuho Securities as financial adviser to SoftBank Group on its landmark £24.3bn acquisition of technology company ARM Holdings.

Clyde & Co Examples of UK firms making significant inroads in the US are few and far between but by sticking to its insurance roots, Clydes is becoming an exception.

But its expansion has not just been limited to the US. During the past 10 years, the firm has doubled in size twice through small mergers and bolt-ons around the world, as well as organic growth. In 2006-07, the firm generated £134m of revenue from 15 offices – by 2015-16 these figures had risen to £447m from 46 offices, of which 15% was generated in the US.

Expansion in the past 18 months has included the hire of a 30-strong insurance team from Australian firm Lee & Lyons, as well as a merger with Scotland's Simpson & Marwick. Much of this growth has been driven in part by outgoing senior partner James Burns. With Burns now to take up a more US-focused leadership position, the firm is pinning its colours firmly to the mast.

Herbert Smith Freehills International mergers do not always go smoothly but so far, Herbert Smith Freehills has had a pretty clear run, leaving to one side a more recent flurry of partner exits.

With three consecutive years of revenue and profit growth, its performance has contrasted sharply with other Anglo-Australian merger products such as Ashurst or King & Wood Mallesons.

And it has achieved this growth despite a steady stream of international expansion including a new office in Johannesburg, a third office in Germany and exclusive alliances in Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

As part of these expansion plans, the firm has made 20 partner hires during the past 12 months around the world.

It has also been taking an innovation lead, building on the success of its Belfast legal services centre with an alternative legal services business that includes a new team in Melbourne, a pop-up in Perth and a new permanent base in China. The firm is also using project managers to transform its delivery to clients.

And on the mandate front it has recently taken roles on deals including BAT's proposed $47bn merger with Reynolds, and the proposed €27bn London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse merger.

Osborne Clarke On numbers alone, Osborne Clarke (OC) was a standout performer in 2015-16. The firm saw revenue soar 23% internationally, with UK revenue up by 17% year on year. Both significantly outpaced the firm's 11% headcount growth and indeed, the international revenue growth was more than four times the average across the UK top 50 last year.

Long committed to a sector focus including life sciences, energy and transport, recent efforts have seen the firm focusing on increasing revenue generated from key clients.

Since 2011, the firm has opened 10 offices in seven countries and earlier this year invested in Singapore and New York. Internationally, the firm added 17 lateral partners during the year as well as a further 14 through internal promotions.

Pinsent Masons Like OC, Pinsents' financial performance has been impressive. Over three years, revenue has climbed by 24%, with PEP jumping up 36%. Also like OC and Herbert Smith Freehills, this financial growth has been achieved alongside investment in international expansion.

The firm is no longer just a regional UK player, opening six international offices during the past five years to take its office tally to 21 locations across three continents.

New locations in 2015-16 include Duesseldorf, Sydney and Melbourne, with South Africa next on the list. It has also been steadily growing headcount in London as it focuses on a clearly defined strategy of becoming a leading international player in five key sectors by 2019, including infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and technology. Its efforts appear to be paying off, with recent panel wins including Dixons Carphone Warehouse, Capita, Serco and The Co-operative Bank.

On the innovation front, it has taken a majority stake in cloud-based compliance venture Cerico, while continuing to grow its flexible lawyering service Vario, and renewing its sole adviser deal with Balfour Beatty.

• Click here for all the shortlists for the British Legal Awards 2016