The Lawyer European Awards 2011: WINNERS

Cuatrecasas, also crowned Iberian law firm of the year for its focus on client service, technical expertise and recent growth, was the big winner in a night recognising the achievements of independent firms across the Continent.

Held at the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva and hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, the gala dinner saw inaugural awards for the top law firms in Turkey, the Nordic and the Baltic regions.

Employment law network Ius Laboris was crowned Law Firm Network of the Year, narrowly beating last year’s winner Lex Mundi. Herbert Smith’s Madrid Office was named Overseas Office of the Year in the only award contested by US, UK and offshore firms.

The awards were judged by a panel of in-house and UK senior partners.

The winners in full:

Law Firm of the Year: Austria

Winner: Binder Grösswang Rechtsanwälte
Highly commended: Wolf Theiss

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati
Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners
Graf & Pitkowitz Rechtsanwälte
Schoenherr

Law Firm of the Year: Benelux

Winner: Stibbe

ALTIUS
Arendt & Medernach
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
NautaDutilh

Law Firm of the Year: Central Europe

Winner: Salans

Kinstellar
Konecna & Safar
Lakatos Köves & Partners
PRK Partners
Wolf Theiss

Law Firm of the Year: Eastern Europe and The Balkans

Winner: Borislav Boyanov & Co

Kalo & Associates
Kinstellar
PETOSEVIC
Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii

Law Firm of the Year: France

Winner: Bredin Prat
Highly commended: Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier

August & Debouzy
Gide Loyrette Nouel
Salans

Law Firm of the Year: Germany

Winner: Schultze & Braun
Highly commended: Gleiss Lutz

Buse Heberer Fromm
Glade Michel Wirtz
Oppenhoff & Partner
Schalast & Partner

Law Firm of the Year: Iberia

Winner: Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira
Highly commended: Garrigues

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
Perez-Llorca
PLMJ
Uría Menéndez
Viera de Almeida & Associados

Law Firm of the Year: Italy

Winner: LABLAW
Highly commended: AL - Assistenza Legale

Chiomenti Studio Legale
Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners
NCTM
Portolano Colella Cavallo Studio Legale

Law Firm of the Year: Republic of Ireland

Winner: Matheson Ormsby Prentice

A&L Goodbody
Arthur Cox
Eversheds O’Donnell Sweeney
McCann Fitzgerald
William Fry

Law Firm of the Year: Russia and The CIS

Winner: Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners

Arzinger
Goltsblat BLP
Gvozdiy & Oberkovych Law Firm
Magisters
Sayenko Kharenko

Law Firm of the Year: Switzerland

Winner: Bär & Karrer
Highly commended: Niederer Kraft & Frey

CMS von Erlach Henrici
Schellenberg Wittmer
Walder Wyss

Law Firm of the Year: The Baltics

Winner: LAWIN

Raidla Lejins & Norcous
SORAINEN
Tark Grunte Sutkiene
VARUL

Law Firm of the Year: The Nordics

Winner: Magnusson
Highly commended: Mannheimer Swartling

Haavind
MAQS Law Firm
Plesner
Roschier

Law Firm of the Year: Turkey

Winner: Bezen & Partners

Akol Avukatlik Bürosu
Esin Law Firm
Kinstellar & CCAO
Kolcuoglu Demirkan Attorneys at Law

Best Overseas Office

Winner: Herbert Smith - Madrid

Conyers Dill & Pearman - Moscow
DLA Piper - Kiev
Latham & Watkins - Milan
Watson Farley & Williams - Hamburg
Weil Gotshal & Manges - Budapest

European Law Firm Network of the Year

Winner: Ius Laboris
Highly commended: Lex Mundi

CIS Leading Counsel Network
Meritas
MSI Global Alliance
World Law Group

European Niche Law Firm of the Year

Winner: AL - Assistenza Legale

Broseta Abogados
Cocuzza & Associati
Glade Michel Wirtz
Grau & Angelo
LABLAW
VANDENBULKE

European Managing Partner of the Year

Winner: Luís Sáragga Legal - PLMJ

Carine Van Regenmortel - ALTIUS
Christian H. Pothe - Buse Heberer Fromm
Christoph Lindinger - Schoenherr
Florentin Tuca - Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii

European Law Firm of the Year

Winner: Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira
Highly commended: Bredin Prat