The Lawyer Awards is about the celebration of excellence in the profession across private practice, the public sector, commerce and industry, and the Bar. It is unquestionably the biggest night of the year for the legal profession.

Every year we are deluged with hundreds of entries, and I am sure that again this year we at the Lawyer will be spending a greater part of the spring sifting through them. But we don’t just depend on the entries we are sent. The Lawyer editorial team conducts a huge research process, interviewing hundreds of lawyers and their clients to supplement the nominations.

The Lawyer was the first legal magazine to put together a senior advisory judging panel taken from the great and the good in City institutions and the media. The combination of this and The Lawyer’s own research has made Awards the most comprehensive and incisive reflection of the commercial legal market. It’s no wonder that they are the most sought after trophies in the law.

This Year's Winners

---

Banking Team of the Year 1st - Linklaters, Tata/Corus & Alliance Boots 2nd - Clifford Chance 3rd - Allen & Overy Finance Team of the Year - Debt Capital Markets / Structured Finance 1st - Norton Rose, Oasis Certificate Programme 2nd - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - db - Microfinance Invest Nr.1 3rd - Allen & Overy Corporate Team of the Year 1st - Linklaters, RBS acquisition of ABN AMRO 2nd - Lovells, Equitable Life's £1.8 billion transfer 3rd - Herbert Smith Corporate Team of the Year - Mid Markets 1st - Olswang 2nd - Taylor Wessing, Ion Equity Limited's Acquisition of Blue Ocean Associates 3rd - Travers Smith Employment Team of the Year 1st - Lewis Silkin, Bloxham v Freshfields 2nd - Sacker & Partners 3rd - Berwin Leighton Paisner Infrastructure Team of the Year 1st - Pinsent Masons 2nd - Norton Rose - Queen Alia Airport - PPP Project 3rd - Ashurst - Queen Alia Airport TMT Team of the Year 1st - Taylor Wessing, Monsaito Technology LLC V Cargill International and Cargill SA 2nd - Pinsent Masons 3rd - Wragge & Co, One Patent, Two Liars & 13 Years of Litigation Real Estate Team of the Year 1st - Osborne Clarke 2nd - Pinsent Masons 3rd - Eversheds Litigation Team of the Year 1st - White & Case 2nd - Slaughter and May 3rd - Olswang Competition/Regulatory Team of the Year 1st - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Acquisition of Vernons Football Pools by Sportech 2nd - Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Competition Brussels 3rd - SJ Berwin Private Client Team of the Year 1st - Forsters 2nd - Berwin Leighton Paisner 3rd - LG, Middle East Family Restructuring Barrister of the Year 1st - Mark Howard QC, Brick Court Chambers 2nd - Clare Montgomery QC, Matrix Chambers 3rd - Stuart Catchpole QC, 39 Essex Street Chambers of the Year 1st - Outer Temple Chambers 2nd - Brick Court Chambers 3rd - Maitland Chambers

Pro Bono Team of the Year 1st - SJ Berwin 2nd - Herbert Smith 3rd - Debevoise & Plimpton In-House Commerce and Industry Team of the Year 1st - Thomson Reuters 2nd - United Utilities 3rd - Which? In-house Legal Team In-house Public Sector Team of the Year 1st - Kirklees Council Legal Services 2nd - Charity Commission 3rd - London Borough of Lambeth Legal Services, New Ways of Working In-house Banking & Financial Sevices Team of the Year 1st - Barclays Bank 2nd - GE Corporate Finance 3rd - Royal & SunAlliance In-house TMT Team of the Year 1st - MySpace 2nd - 3 3rd - Canon Europe In-house Lawyer of the Year 1st - Trevor Faure, Tyco 2nd - Miller McLean, RBS 3rd - Phil Michaels, Friends of the Earth Assistant Solicitor of the Year 1st - Costanza Russo, Paul Hastings 2nd - Cathryn Moore, North Yorkshire Legal Services 3rd - Jessamy Gallagher, Linklaters Partner of the Year 1st - Gideon Benaim, Schillings 2nd - Chris Carroll, Travers Smith 3rd - Nick Thomas, Kennedys Management Team of the Year 1st - Eversheds 2nd - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 3rd - Travers Smith Offshore Law Firm of the Year 1st - Cains 2nd - Carey Olsen 3rd - Conyers Dill & Pearman Niche Firm of the Year 1st - Sacker & Partners 2nd - BCL Burton Copeland 3rd - Gates and Partners Regional/National Law Firm of the Year 1st - Burness 2nd - Shakespeare Putsman 3rd - emw law International Law Firm of the Year 1st - Bird & Bird 2nd - Salans 3rd - White & Case Law Firm of the Year 1st - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 2nd - Stephenson Harwood 3rd - Nabarro