The British Legal Awards are taking place later this month.

The legal industry has continued to be tested in 2019. An ever-saturated market has led to fiercer competition between firms, as junior and senior lawyers continue to command ever-higher pay packets. The culture of firms has also been scrutinised as diversity issues have come into focus and more unsavoury allegations over misconduct have emerged.

Against this backdrop, some firms have stood out as strong performers in a number of ways. Alongside the usual metrics of financial performance and standout mandates, we feel that many of the firms we have shortlisted for Legal Week's Law Firm of the Year Award 2019 have shown real commitment in how they have sought to improve the diversity of their ranks and create an environment that welcomes a wider range of lawyers.

The winner will be announced at the British Legal Awards on 21 November.

Ashurst

Ashurst beat its peers by growing its revenue and average equity partner profits by 14% and 31% respectively this year, and the firm's successful reshaping with a push into infrastructure work has led to significant hires across the globe, including in the U.S. It has set notable targets for gender and ethnic minority diversity within its ranks and worked on important pro bono projects. As it settles into its new London headquarters, the future looks bright once again.

DWF

In March, DWF made its unprecedented main market float, a move that is still watched keenly by an industry looking constantly for new ways to raise capital and offset chunky debts. But it's not all about the IPO. The firm this year set itself ambitious gender and BAME targets for 2022, and continues to impress with its dynamic programme of expansion in Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the U.S, as well as growing its alternative legal services businesses.

Eversheds Sutherland

Eversheds Sutherland most recently grew its revenue by 10% and has expanded its international presence via a series of mergers across Europe this year. It has invested in various forms of technology, including rolling out new software for its disputes team and launching a crowdsourcing platform for all its staff. It is also taking clear steps to improve its gender and BAME make-up.

Fieldfisher

Anchored by an ambitious growth strategy and an unrelenting hiring spree, no U.K. firm has grown at quite the rate that Fieldfisher has during the past few years. The riverside firm continues its march into the tech and life sciences spaces, while panel appointments at Deutsche Bank and Paysafe were seen as significant coups amid tough competition. And this year's promotion round saw the firm make up proportionally more women than most other London firms.

Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis has continued its domination of the market in 2019. It recently topped European private equity deal league tables and the firm has also continued to benefit from the decline of the U.K. high street, continuing to guide companies including Debenhams and Paperchase on restructuring processes.

Travers Smith

One of London's arch dealmakers, Travers this year relished in strong revenue growth, and continues to win headline-making work from its bigger, more populous rivals. And when the firm appointed Kathleen Russ senior partner earlier this year, she became one of London's – indeed, the world's – few female elite-firm leaders, signalling an era of change at one of the U.K.'s most tenacious and profitable law firms.

View this year's full shortlist here.

To vote for the Law Firm Leader of the Year, click here.

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