Shoosmiths, Travers Smith and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners were among the major winners at the 2022 Legal Business Awards, which welcomed more than 800 guests to the Grosvenor House hotel on 27 September.
Before the Awards, in-house guests gathered for a reception to mark the launch of our annual GC Powerlist, with key representatives from FTSE 100 companies such as Adobe, FT and Vodafone in attendance.
Then it was over to the Great Room and time for the LB Awards, hosted by distinguished BBC presenter, news anchor and journalist Louise Minchin. The evening saw Shoosmiths emerge as the big winner, crowned Law Firm of the Year with judges particularly impressed by its stellar performance over the past couple of years, with a strong financial performance underpinned by key client wins.
Meanwhile Travers – for the second year in a row – picked up two awards, this time in the prestigious Commercial Litigation and Private Equity categories. Elsewhere, Ashurst won Corporate Team of the Year for its role managing the bidding process for Morrisons that eventually saw the supermarket taken over by CD&R, while Kirkland & Ellis won the Restructuring Team of the Year award for the second year in a row after advising NMC Healthcare, via its joint administrators, on its successful $7.6bn financial restructuring.
In the in-house categories, it was a strong performance from publisher HarperCollins, which was Highly Commended in both the In-House Team of the Year (won by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners) and GC of the Year (won by Sharon Blackman of Citi) categories. There were also wins for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – which won Most Transformative In-House Team of the Year – and Ndidi Ezenwa of Juven, who picked up the award for Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year.
Elsewhere, Cooley, DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons also enjoyed successful evenings – each picking up an award and a Highly Commended mention. DLA won our inaugural ESG Programme of the Year award, while its recent work with client Pfizer saw it come runner-up in the TMT Team of the Year category; Cooley won the competitive US Firm of the Year award and was Highly Commended in Commercial Litigation; while Pinsents won the TMT category and came runner-up in the Restructuring category.
A special thanks goes to our external judging panel of prominent general counsel who selected the winners. They are: Kate Cheetham, GC at Lloyds Banking Group; Ruwan De Soyza, group GC and company secretary at Xplor; Chris Fowler, former GC Technology at BT; Alessandro Galtieri, deputy GC at Colt; Rupert Hopley, company secretary and group GC at Informa; Angus McBride, EVP and GC at News UK; Neil Murrin, GC at Smart Pension; Nigel Paterson, GC at Dixons Carphone; Nayeem Syed, senior legal director technology procurement at London Stock Exchange Group; and Samantha Thompson, head of legal global M&A, Anglo American.
We would like to thank our various category sponsors for the Legal Business Awards, and Pinsent Masons for the GC Powerlist, as well as other commercial partners for making the night a success and helped to create a memorable night of celebration for everyone involved.
For further information, please refer to the Legal Business Awards supplement and website: www.legalbusinessawards.com
Legal Business Awards 2022 winners
Boutique Law Firm of the Year
Tenet Compliance & Litigation
For specialising in fraud and financial crime, and occupying a unique space in the market
Sponsored by Maltin PR
Chambers of the Year
Essex Court Chambers
Crucial wins in a variety of landmark disputes at the highest level
Sponsored by Cleary Gottlieb
Commercial Litigation Team of the Year
Travers Smith
Successfully representing Hewlett-Packard companies in a claim against former executives of Autonomy
Sponsored by Essex Court Chambers
Competition Team of the Year
Fieldfisher
Successfully representing Achilles in a stand-alone claim against Network Rail
Sponsored by Infinite Global
Corporate Team of the Year
Ashurst
Advising WM Morrison Supermarkets on its takeover by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Sponsored by Cantab Asset Management
ESG Programme of the Year
DLA Piper
Signing a pioneering corporate power purchase agreement to meet its net zero ambitions
Sponsored by Intelligent Office
Finance Team of the Year
Paul Hastings
Advising on the financing for purchase by Advent International of Caldic BV
Sponsored by Cantab Asset Management
GC of the Year
Sharon Blackman, Citi
Consistently representing Citi at a variety of crucial industry level committees
Sponsored by Laurence Simons
In-House Team of the Year
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
Showing initiative and drive to lead change towards the company’s sustainability goals
Sponsored by Taylor Wessing
Insurance Team of the Year
Eversheds Sutherland
Advising Aon on the acquisition of actuarial software platform Tyche
Sponsored by Fry & Brown
International Arbitration Team of the Year
Vinson & Elkins
Representing Fluor against Sadara Chemical Company in a dispute over a project in Saudi Arabia
Sponsored by 3VB
International Firm of the Year
ADVANT
Launching an ambitious full-service European law firm association in France, Germany and Italy
Sponsored by Taylor Root
Law Firm of the Year
Shoosmiths
For an outstanding couple of years, including a host of client wins and eye-catching financial results
Sponsored by Investec
Lawyer of the Year
Simon Maynard, King & Spalding
Being a critical voice for disability inclusion in the legal profession
Sponsored by Kılınç Law & Consulting
Legal Technology Team of the Year
Squire Patton Boggs
Giving clients access to business-critical information spanning 40 different countries
Sponsored by the International Bar Association
Management Partner of the Year
Ray Berg, Osborne Clarke
An instrumental role in developing and leading Osborne Clarke’s five-year 2025 strategy
Sponsored by Taylor Rose
Most Transformative In-House Team of the Year
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Playing a pivotal role in the procurement and distribution of an accessible Covid-19 vaccine
Sponsored by Cooley
Private Client Team of the Year
Womble Bond Dickinson
A leading sporting estate practice, including the sale of 17,000-acre estate
Sponsored by Saunderson House
Private Equity Team of the Year
Travers Smith
Representing Inflexion on the sale of Medivet to CVC
Sponsored by Virtual Vaults
Real Estate Team of the Year
Herbert Smith Freehills
Acting as sole lawyers on the £3.5bn Canada Water development project
Sponsored by Edwards Gibson
Regional/Offshore Firm of the Year
Clarion
A successful year of significant cross-border corporate work
Sponsored by Taylor Root
Restructuring Team of the Year
Kirkland & Ellis
Advising NMC Healthcare on its successful $7.6bn financial restructuring
Sponsored by the International Arbitration Centre
Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year
Ndidi Ezenwa, Juven
Winning widespread plaudits for her experience spanning both Nigeria and the UK in equity investments
Sponsored by KPMG
TMT Team of the Year
Pinsent Masons
Successfully representing the defendant in Lloyd v Google data privacy case
Sponsored by Kidd Aitken
US Law Firm of the Year
Cooley
Replicating the success of the firm’s well-established position in the US in London
Sponsored by Fox Rodney