Over 1,000 legal professionals gathered last night for The Lawyer Awards 2023, with firms including Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith Freehills picking up trophies. Allen & Overy won the coveted Law Firm of the Year prize as it looks set to agree the most significant deal in its nearly-century-old existence – that of […]
Can you feel the electricity in the air? The crackle of anticipation? The goosebump-inducing sense of excitement for The Lawyer Awards 2023? We probably don’t need to ask the rhetorical questions, as we already know the answer. It’s a resounding YES. A full year has passed since one and all gathered to dine and make […]
The shortlist for The Lawyer Awards was unveiled last month, celebrating legal excellence across the profession. Today, we reveal the firms in the running for Law Firm of the Year. This year, nine firms have been shortlisted by The Lawyer as contenders for the most important trophy in the legal sector. The winner of Law Firm of the Year, […]
The shortlist for The Lawyer Awards 2023 has been revealed, with firms, chambers and in-house teams battling it out to take home a trophy. The awards take place on 20 June 2023 in London’s JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel. For more information, please visit our website or contact the team on awards@thelawyer.com. Awarding winners across […]
Pinsent Masons, Konexo and Kingsley Napley are just some of the firms that have been bathing in Lawyer Awards glory since last year’s ceremony. But are you up to the task of challenging them for the 2023 trophy? Find out how to enter here. Nominations are open for this year’s The Lawyer Awards, which takes […]
After a virtual event last year, The Lawyer Awards returned last night for a long-awaited in-person event at JW Marriott Grosvenor House London. Hosted by comedian Jason Manford, 27 organisations and individuals won top prizes in their respective categories. Taking home the coveted Law firm of the year award was Eversheds Sutherland. And it was […]
Today, The Lawyer unveils its Hot 100 2023, celebrating the successes of those working within the industry over the past 12 months. Featuring the crème de la crème of the legal world, The Lawyer Hot 100 highlights this year’s dealmakers, the litigators who are riding high after trial glory and the most sought-after names in the world of competition, […]
The Lawyer Hot 100 nominations window is currently open. How to nominate Please do not send your submissions in a PDF or Word document. Instead, simply paste all your submissions, in alphabetical order by surname, into the body text of an email, with the following information at the top of each entry: Nominee’s name, Name […]
Members of The Lawyer Hot 100 have just two things in common. The first is excellence. Every year, our Hot 100 covers an incredibly diverse mix of legal professionals: scrappers from the rough and tumble of criminal law; sharp-suited corporate dealmakers; intellectuals and silver-tongued advocates from barristers’ profession; the in-house counsel with the ear of their CEOs; […]
Our Hot 100 2021 share the best piece of wisdom their mentors ever gave.
Members of The Lawyer Hot 100 have just two things in common. The first is excellence. Every year, our Hot 100 covers an incredibly diverse mix of legal professionals: scrappers from the rough and tumble of criminal law; sharp-suited corporate dealmakers; intellectuals and silver-tongued advocates from barristers’ profession; the in-house counsel with the ear of […]
As disability continues to be underreported in the legal profession, Gowling WLG hopes its new assistance dog policy can encourage others to be proactive in creating inclusive workplaces.
In June this year, two key decisions on each side of the Atlantic sparked debates about the future of diversity initiatives in the workplace. The US Supreme Court ruled that positive affirmative action in relation to race in college admission programmes is unlawful (Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, No. […]
Revolut has partnered up with Linklaters, one of its panel firms, to offer a new mentoring scheme with Aspiring Solicitors. Revolut partner and group GC Tom Hambrett, and senior legal counsels Sarah Baldwin and Marley Ali, are driving the initiative alongside panel firm Linklaters to give young people considering a career in law a chance […]
Following the launch of its mentoring product for aspiring Black lawyers, the Stephen James Partnership (SJP) has extended its technology solution to cater for qualified practitioners globally. Recruitment business SJP launched Black Lawyers Matter Mentoring in 2022, claiming victory at The Lawyer Awards this year for Best Technology Product. It is a digital programme that […]
Growing up between London and Lagos, Claudius Sokenu started out in the US government legal department before later becoming the first Black male partner at American outfit Shearman & Sterling. It was after becoming a partner that he took his career in a new direction by moving in-house. “I always knew that I didn’t think […]
October is Black History Month. We are given 31 days to reflect on the enormous contribution Black people have made to the history of this country; to re-examine diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and to press the reset button if we feel that our existing ways of operating are no longer working. But, when […]
Mariam Akanbi is general counsel at investment advisory firm ARCH Emerging Markets Partners, based in London. She studied law and sociology at Warwick University, partly because she wasn’t entirely sure that law was the career for her. It was while she was at university that she discovered corporate law, and found out about the path […]
As a Black woman growing up in the UK, I have always been aware of the racial disparities in this country; however, as I embarked on my legal career, I was appalled by the issues I encountered as a visible minority. I have had to overcome a number of obstacles in becoming a lawyer, requiring […]
My name is Rodwell and the story of my life is one about the power of sponsorship, mentorship and people who are willing to go the extra mile to propel a young black person forward. I was born in Zimbabwe. My parents were doing well for themselves, as they had worked to build themselves comfortable middle-class […]
October is Black History Month in the United Kingdom. Many employers are celebrating this by championing new and innovative diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives alongside praising the accomplishments of people of Black heritage in their workforce, as well as Black leaders in society more broadly. Beneath all of this fanfare, there seem to be […]
The LGBTQ+ community has marched long and hard to promote inclusion, awareness and acceptance. It strikes me, however, that the corporate world has reached the final frontier, and it will take sustained determination and willing participants to finish the journey: LGBTQ+ leadership and smash the pink ceiling. Think for a moment about how many positions […]
I wasn’t much for Pride when I first came out. My understanding was that you came out, people accepted it (or didn’t), you accepted that and then you got on with stuff as normal. It was a few straight friends from university who introduced me to Pride. They lived in Brighton and had grown up […]
One of the many things which has changed for the better in the legal profession since I became an articled clerk in September 1989 is its attitude towards LGBTQ solicitors. I was very clear when I started my legal career that being gay (or at least coming out to the firm and colleagues) would not […]
There is a rather big word that our friends in the Diversity & Inclusivity (D&I) teams have in their lexicon which is “intersectionality”. I am not sure anyone really understands what it means. Is it about gender, sexuality, race, religion, social class and/or disabilities? It is supposed to acknowledge all the differences between us which […]
On 25 June last year, the unthinkable happened. Tragedy struck in what should have been a weekend of celebration. Two people were shot and killed at the heart of the Oslo Pride celebrations. Some of my colleagues were moving in London pub circles, some of them know people who were directly affected, and some of […]
How many times have you heard a member of the LGBTQIA+ community share that they have hidden part of their personal lives during their career? Yet, even once they have come out of the closet, it feels as if the door slams shut again with each new job, position, colleague… At the start of my […]
In our latest 60 second interview, Norton Rose Fulbright’s head of legal operations consulting Stéphanie Hamon talks to The Lawyer about the skills in-house lawyers need in 2022, the importance of skills mapping, and the value this brings to the wider business. Are the skills that in-house lawyers require in 2022 different from those needed […]
In our latest 60 second interview, TLT’s client services transformation partner Siân Ashton talks to The Lawyer about the need to challenge the assumption that technology is always the answer and how analysing processes can deliver the greatest improvements in efficiency. The pandemic has massively accelerated the pace of digital transformation. Is technology still a […]
TLT partner and head of financial services Andrew Lyon talks to The Lawyer about the increase in financial crime over the past 18 months, the subsequent increase in litigation activity and whether regulators have enough resources to cope with this. Has the pandemic increased fraudulent behaviour and have you seen financial crime or fraud-related work […]
In this latest 60-second interview, Peerpoint MD Carolyn Aldous talks to The Lawyer about changes to the legal market, trends in legal consulting and what successful legal teams will look like in the future. Has the pandemic changed your approach to the legal market? Our key values have stayed the same, but we’ve had to […]
In our latest 60-second interview, Shoosmiths partner Sam Tyfield shares his views and predictions when it comes to the key challenges facing the Financial Services sector in the next few years. In your experience, what are the key areas that FS firms have relied on external support over the past year? The key areas have […]