CMS, Latham and A&O's Dejonghe among winners at British Legal Awards
CMS sees off strong competition to secure Law Firm of the Year award
November 30, 2018 at 04:58 AM
4 minute read
CMS, winner of the Law Firm of the Year award at the British Legal Awards 2018
CMS, Latham & Watkins and DLA Piper were among the law firms winning top awards at the British Legal Awards last night (29 November), after an evening celebrating outstanding performances by law firms, legal teams and individuals during the past year.
CMS saw off strong competition from a line-up of nominees including Clifford Chance and Eversheds Sutherland to secure the Law Firm of the Year award. The win comes 18 months after the CMS, Nabarro and Olswang merger, which created a combined firm of nearly 2,500 lawyers in the UK and more than 4,500 around the world.
Another big winner on the night was US firm Latham & Watkins, which walked away with two awards – International Law Firm of the Year and Private Equity Team of the Year.
DLA Piper won Commercial Team of the Year, while Janet Legrand QC – who recently stepped in as interim senior partner and global co-chair after the departure of Juan Picon – was honoured with the City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
Other individuals taking home top prizes were Serco group general counsel David Eveleigh, who was named General Counsel of the Year, and Allen & Overy senior partner Wim Dejonghe, who took home the Editor's Award for Law Firm Leader of the Year. A&O also secured the prize for Competition Team of the Year.
Taking home UK Law Firm of the Year award was Mills & Reeve, while Germany's Noerr was named European Law Firm of the Year.
The awards were decided on by a senior independent judging panel that included City of London Law Society chair Edward Sparrow, KPMG GC Jeremy Barton, BAE Systems group GC Philip Bramwell and former Herbert Smith Freehills CEO Sonya Leydecker, among others. The host for the evening was actor Stephen Mangan.
British Legal Awards 2018 winners in full
- Editor's Law Firm Leader of the Year: Allen & Overy senior partner Wim Dejonghe
- TMT Team of the Year: Gowling WLG
- Commercial Team of the Year: DLA Piper
- Competition Team of the Year: Allen & Overy
- Regulatory and Investigations Team of the Year: Norton Rose Fulbright
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year: Stephenson Harwood
- Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year: Pinsent Masons, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and Heathrow
- Property Team of the Year: MacRoberts
- Private Client Team of the Year: Maurice Turnor Gardner
- Restructuring Team of the Year: Paul Hastings
- Banking and Finance Team of the Year: Linklaters
- Private Equity Team of the Year: Latham & Watkins
- M&A Team of the Year (medium-sized deal): Macfarlanes
- M&A Team of the Year (large deal): Herbert Smith Freehills
- Supplier of the Year (technology): Thomson Reuters
- Supplier of the Year (business services): LOD
- Best Use of Technology: Addleshaws, CMS, and Sainsburys
- CSR/Diversity Initiative of the Year: Hogan Lovells
- Chambers of the Year: Essex Court Chambers
- Boutique Law Firm of the Year: Davitt Jones Bould
- Legal Department of the Year: Trainline
- Legal Services Innovation Award: Moore Blatch and Bermans
- UK Law Firm of the Year: Mills & Reeve
- European Law Firm of the Year: Noerr
- International Law Firm of the Year: Latham & Watkins
- General Counsel of the Year: David Eveleigh, Serco Group
- Law Firm of the Year: CMS
- City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement: Janet Legrand QC (Hon) of DLA Piper
For more, see British Legal Awards Law Firm of the Year 2018: why we chose the firms on the shortlist.
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