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Law Firm of the Year
MISHCON DE REYA - Kevin Gold
Mishcon de Reya truly excelled in 2011. Not only were revenues up by an eye-watering 37%, but profits climbed by almost 28%, rounding off a phenomenal three-year period for the small but ambitious firm.
National/Regional Firm of the Year
WEIGHTMANS - Patrick Gaul
Four consecutive years of revenue growth were capped by two significant strategic mergers in 2011, first with Vizards Wyeth in London and then Mace & Jones in Liverpool, adding 200 staff and an estimated £20m in revenue points to a firm definitely in ascendancy.
Management Partner of the Year
SIMON HODSON/PAUL MURRAY - DAC Beachcroft
Hodson and Murray have been a true double act since becoming senior and managing partner of Beachcroft in 2005. During that time the pair have helped the firm grow revenues by 46%, have been re-elected to serve another five-year term and have led the insurance giant into a game-changing merger with Davies Arnold Cooper.
Lawyer of the Year
MICHAEL NAPIER QC - Irwin Mitchell
After four decades at Irwin Mitchell – 29 of them as senior partner – Michael Napier QC will be stepping down as chairman of the firm in April. The former Law Society president has been instrumental in developing the firm from a small Sheffield practice to the national powerhouse it is today, on the brink of becoming a pioneering ABS firm.
US law firm of the year
QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN - Richard East; Sue Prevezer; John Quinn
Quinn Emanuel became the second most profitable firm in the world in 2010, with the twin pillars of IP and financial services litigation serving it very well. London grew its revenues from £7.6m to £12.4m from 2009 to 2010. Half year figures for 2011 were up to £10.5m from £4.2m on the same period last year.
CSR Programme of the Year
HOGAN LOVELLS - Crispin Rapinet; Yasmin Waljee
Hogan Lovells has long led the way with its CSR work and this year is no exception. The firm created an innovative scheme that encourages law firms to release their dormant client funds and donate them to the Access to Justice Foundation (AJF). So far the Attorney General and Lord Chief Justice have both backed the scheme that has already freed up £76,000 for use by AJF.
International Firm of the Year
KING & WOOD MALLESONS - Stuart Fuller; Robert Hanley
The tie-up between China’s King & Wood and Australia’s Mallesons Stephen Jacques, announced at the end of 2011, is a game-changer for global legal services. All attention has been focused on a top-drawer transatlantic combination for the past decade. But this combination points emphatically to a new world order.
Employment, Pensions & Benefits Team of the Year
SLAUGHTER AND MAY - Sandeep Maudgil
Created a solution for Uniq in its bid to minimise the £400m plus legacy shortfall in its £1bn defined-benefit pension scheme using an innovative deficit-for-equity swap. It involved creating a completely new structure and clearing it with the pension scheme trustees and Pensions Regulator, as well as ensuring that the Pension Protection Fund would not object.
Competition Team of the Year
ASHURST - Euan Burrows; Nigel Parr
A landmark victory for Imperial Tobacco in successfully overturning ten separate infringement findings and a £112.3m fine imposed by the OFT. Success in the case vindicated Ashurst’s advice that Imperial reject the OFT’s attempts to settle the case for a reduced fine and instead mount the largest-ever appeal against the OFT.
Regulatory Team of the Year
SHEARMAN & STERLING - Barney Reynolds
The firm drafted a new federal framework for the UAE to govern the financial services industry, including advising the government on regulatory policy. The framework law adopts the twin peaks approach to financial regulation with two regulators pursuing different objectives. The matter brought to the fore the firm’s global financial and regulatory expertise, as the team devised a structure that uses UAE civil law traditions.
Private Equity Team of the Year
BAKER & McKENZIE - Bruno Bertrand; James Burdett
The firm has advised AXA Private Equity on a series of acquisitions worth more than $6bn over the last 18 months in London and Paris, including two of the largest-ever secondary private transactions. The company has been at the forefront of the secondary market and Bakers has consistently been at its side. The largest deal came with the purchase of leveraged buyout assets from Citigroup for $1.7bn.
Corporate Team of the Year
AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD - Dan Walsh
The US firm’s London team acted for Vimpelcom on its mega-merger with Wind Telecom to create the sixth largest mobile telecommunications carrier globally, with net operating revenues of $21.5bn. A genuinely complex multijurisdictional deal that involved 20 different countries, including Russia, North Africa and Italy.
Dispute Resolution Team of the Year
SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE,MEAGHER & FLOM - David Kavanagh; Scott Simpson
Acted for AAR in preventing BP from pursuing a $16bn strategic alliance with Russian state oil company Rosneft. Resolving the issue required Skadden to instigate a bold and unusual pre-tribunal injunction and an urgent international arbitration against the backdrop of considerable time pressure and political sensitivities.
Private Client Team of the Year
BERWIN LEIGHTON PAISNER - Jonathan Kropman
BLP’s large private client practice has expanded by 30% in the last five years and notable lateral hires, including Rupert Ticehurst from Herbert Smith in 2011, have added to the firm’s impressive stock. The firm also launched a South East Asia private client practice following the recruitment of Simon Michaels from Baker & McKenzie in Singapore in late 2010.
Real Estate Team of the Year
MISHCON DE REYA - Nick Doffman
Mishcon de Reya had a first-rate year, increasing its real estate revenues by 40% in 2011. Highlights included securing the lead role in representing Capco on its development of Earls Court and Olympia; and a key role representing Delancey and Qatari Diar on the real estate aspects of their £557m purchase and management of the Olympic village.
Energy and Natural Resources Team of the Year
SIMMONS & SIMMONS - Richard Dyton
Simmons & Simmons took lead role acting for MVV Umwelt on an energy-from-waste project that will see the German waste management company build a facility on Ministry of Defence (MOD) owned land. The team advised on the corporate financing; the subcontracts required for the facility; all of the regulatory issues surrounding electricity off-take arrangements; and the heat supply agreements with the MOD.
Insurance Team of the Year
RPC - Stuart White
RPC ably demonstrated its commercial nous in providing crucial advice to the industry in the wake of the summer riots, including drafting the government-approved forms to be used for insurance-related riot compensation claims. Its work means that many insurers have instructed RPC to vet all their claims relating to the Riot Damages Act.
Restructuring Team of the Year
CLIFFORD CHANCE - Nicholas Frome; Iain White
Southern Cross Healthcare Group turned to Clifford Chance to rescue it from closing a large chunk of its 752 care homes as tough market conditions and public spending cuts hit it hard. Despite litigation from some landlords, Clifford Chance saved Southern Cross’s business and avoided the displacement of 30,000 residents.
Finance Team of the Year
DEWEY & LEBOEUF - Amanda Jennings; Bruce Johnston
Touted as the largest leveraged buyout (LBO) in Europe in the last three years, Spartan Capital’s €4.4bn LBO of Polkomtel saw Dewey & LeBoeuf play an integral part in the deal acting for Spartan on all of the financing for the acquisition, including a €3.6bn debt financing package and equity provided by the investor.
TMT Team of the Year
POWELL GILBERT - Penny Gilbert
This patent litigation specialist successfully represented Human Genome Sciences in the first major patent appeal to reach the Supreme Court. The long-running and very high-profi le case against Eli Lilly concerned the validity of a patent for a gene sequence that could be used to treat people with immune diseases.