Finalists: Aluko & Oyebode; Anjarwalla & Khanna; Baker McKenzie; Bowmans (highly commended); MMC Law Africa; PLMJ, Law Firm; Webber Wentzel.

LNP Attorneys triumphed in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year category, for helping its client resolve a conflict that avoided a long, drawn-out court battle.

LNP was representing the South African unit of a global electrical company that had supplied power houses and other hardware and software for a power project in west Africa. The dispute was related to unpaid invoices, defects and the status of acceptance certificates, with LNP's client losing €10m a month as a consequence. The contract between the two parties was also heavily skewed against LNP's client, giving it little room to manoeuvre.

LNP advised on the obligations and liabilities of that contract, and came up with various potential solutions that would allow the client to close out the agreement, with scenarios projected for each one. After the other party initially refused a settlement offer, it eventually consented to mediation (after being threatened with a liquidation order), where a settlement was agreed a fortnight later. That saved LNP's client more than ZAR25m in expected legal costs and also preserved its commercial reputation, concluding the matter in less than six months.

"An innovative solution was found on a trans-jurisdictional matter," said a judge.

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