Mayer Brown, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Dentons were among the firms to fight off tough competition and claim accolades at The Lawyer’s Business Leadership Awards, held at the Brewery in London on Wednesday 28 September.
Mayer Brown took home the Business Services Team of the Year award thanks to it bucking the industry trend towards outsourcing by merging its regional IT service desk functions to create a single global solution.
BLP won the Best Diversity Initiative thanks to the efforts of its social inclusion and ethnicity (SI&E) task-group, which was keen to address the lack of African-Caribbean representation, not just at BLP but throughout the legal profession.
Dentons’ strategic strides won it the Most Innovative Non UK-headquartered Firm, after developing a series of client service initiatives that are disrupting the legal profession, notably the May 2015 launch of NextLaw Labs and a year later, the launch of the Nextlaw Global Referral Network.
Meanwhile, Shakespeare Martineau HR director Victoria Tester took the Business Services Leader of the Year award for the role she played during her firm’s merger and the prompt implementation of an internal academy to promote integration.
Around 500 senior international legal market professionals including managing partners, chief executives and senior business services leaders gather in Grange St Paul’s Hotel in London to celebrate excellence in legal market operational and strategic management.
Judges this year featured a mix of senior in-house lawyers, law firm CEOs and business services groups leaders such as News UK general counsel Angus McBride, John Lewis head of legal projects Maria Passemard, Clyde & Co chief executive Peter Hasson and Denise Nurse of alternative resourcing firm Halebury.
The full list of winners:
Best talent initiative
Winner: Berwin Leighton Paisner
Shortlisted firms:
Addleshaw Goddard
Attwells Solicitors
CIB
Dechert
Pinsent Masons
Best BD initiative
Winner: Herbert Smith Freehills
Shortlisted firms:
Addleshaw Goddard
Kemp IT Law
McCarthy Tétrault
Mills & Reeve
Taylor Wessing
Innovation in CRM
Winner: TWM Solicitors
Shortlisted firms:
Bär & Karrer
SRS Advogados
Trowers & Hamlins
Best environmental initiative
Winner: VdA
Shortlisted firms:
Garrigues
Herbert Smith Freehills
Best new legal product
Winner: Simmons & Simmons
Shortlisted firms:
Eversheds
Ogletree Deakins
McCarthy Tétrault
McGuireWoods
TLT
Wolf Theiss
Innovation in knowledge management
Sponsored by Encompass
Winner: Taylor Wessing
Shortlisted firms:
A&L Goodbody
Charles Russell Speechleys
Garrigues
Gowling WLG
Mason Hayes & Curran
Pérez Llorca
Most innovative workplace initiative
Winner: Mills & Reeve
Shortlisted firms:
A&L Goodbody
Allen & Overy
Ashurst
Dechert
King & Wood Mallesons
SRS Advogados
Innovation in client acquisition
Winner: Setfords Solicitors
Shortlisted firms:
Kemp IT Law
Keystone Law
Wolf Theiss
Best big data initiative
Winner: Berwin Leighton Paisner
Shortlisted firms:
DLA Piper
Paul Hastings
Pinsent Masons
Simmons & Simmons
Innovation in financial management
Sponsored by Barclays
Winner: Pinsent Masons
Shortlisted firms:
Addleshaw Goddard
Eversheds
Most innovative client-facing technology
Winner: Riverview Law
Shortlisted firms:
Addleshaw Goddard
K&L Gates
Kennedy Van der Laan
Paul Hastings
Pinsent Masons
Reed Smith
Taylor Wessing
Best pro bono/CSR initiative
Winner: Hogan Lovells
Shortlisted firms:
Arthur Cox
Ashurst
Dechert
Jackson Canter
Paul Hastings
Shearman & Sterling
Simmons & Simmons
Most significant contribution by a PA/EA
Winner: Deena Gladen, Dentons
Shortlisted:
Melanie Balcan, Withers
Jennifer Clarke, DWF
Koren O’Connor, CMS
Alison Preece, Burges Salmon
Bal Sidhu, DLA Piper
Lauren Stanway, Ernst & Young
Best recruitment campaign
In association with Lawyer 2B
Winner: Taylor Wessing
Shortlisted firms:
Borenius Attorneys
Burges Salmon
Dentons
Herbert Smith Freehills
Shearman & Sterling
Shoosmiths
Innovation in pricing
Winner: Pinsent Masons
Shortlisted firms:
MJ Hudson
Projeny Corporate Law
Best agile working initiative
Winner: Excello Law
Shortlisted firms:
Axon Partners
Borenius Attorneys
Keystone Law
LOD (Lawyers On Demand)
Mills & Reeve
Innovation in project management
Sponsored by Skarbek Associates
Winner: Herbert Smith Freehills
Shortlisted firms:
Axon Partners
Dentons
Eversheds
Best talent initiative
Winner: VdA
Shortlisted firms:
Ashurst
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
Paul Hastings
Pinsent Masons
Shoosmiths
Best firm-wide use of technology
Sponsored by Thomson Reuters
Winner: Garrigues
Shortlisted firms:
Bär & Karrer
Charles Russell Speechleys
CMS
DWF
Paul Hastings
Radiant Law
Best marketing/communications campaign
Winner: Berwin Leighton Paisner
Shortlisted firms:
Clifford Chance
CMS
Herbert Smith Freehills
King & Wood Malleons
LOD (Lawyers on Demand)
Pinsent Masons
RPC
Best service quality innovation
Winner: Addleshaw Goddard
Shortlisted:
Absa Bank
D2 Legal Technology
Garrigues
Mishcon de Reya
Ogletree Deakins
Pinsent Masons
Sejeants’ Inn Chambers
SRS Advogados
Most innovative non-UK headquartered firm
Winner: Dentons
Shortlisted firms:
Bär & Karrer
Garrigues
Hickey Smith
Paul Hastings
Synch Advokat
Wolf Theiss
Business services leader of the year
Sponsored by ComXo
Winner: Victoria Tester, Shakespeare Martineau
Shortlisted:
Joanna Addison, Herbert Smith Freehills
Jonathan Fortnum, Pinsent Masons
Deena Gladen, Dentons
Cesa Mejias Garcia, Garrigues
Wendy Miller, Berwin Leighton Paisner
Alison Nolan, Hogan Lovells
Segun Osuntokun, Berwin Leighton Paisner
Business services team of the year
Sponsored by HSBC
Winner: Mayer Brown
Shortlisted firms:
20 Essex Street
Addleshaw Goddard
Clyde & Co
Excello Law
Osborne Clarke
Pinsent Masons
Travers Smith
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