BEFORE YOU BEGIN…

Carefully read through the category criteria to establish which award(s) you are eligible to enter.

As a general rule:

• Independent European firms headquartered in a continental European country: can enter all categories (except Global firm of the year in Europe).
• European offices of UK or US headquartered firms: can enter the transactional categories only.
• UK or US offices: can enter the Global firm of the year in Europe category only.
• In-house teams: can enter Global in-house team of the year. Nominations from private practice are also welcome.

Take note of the information set out in the Rules & Guidelines for entry; these will help you ensure that your entry follows the instructions and is therefore not penalised by the judges.

Make sure you have taken note of each section of the entry form; while it is at your discretion which section you add the most weight to, it is important that you address each point to some extent.

WHILE WRITING…

Regardless of the exact question wording, all our categories are looking for you to demonstrate what makes your firm / team stand out from the competition.

Winning entries in the past have covered some or all of the below points:

• Has your firm / team had a year of particularly impressive financial growth?
• Has your firm / team expanded into a new jurisdiction or practice area?
• Has your firm / team made any significant client wins?
• Can your firm / team demonstrate a new or innovative approach in how your firm operates?
• Is your firm / team leading the way in how it recruits, retains and develops talent, or champions inclusivity and diversity in the workplace?
• Has your firm / team made improvements to the service you offer to your clients?
• Has your firm / team overcome any challenges specific to the jurisdiction or practice area in which you operate?

Where possible, include relevant client testimony to support statements made in your entry. This will add weight to your submission and provide evidence for the achievements you list.

If you are entering the jurisdictional categories, please ensure your entry focuses on the correct region, and does not heavily reference work carried out by offices in other regions.

ALWAYS be concise and make sure you answer the question being asked.

Ensure that you are including examples of work which fall into the correct eligibility period (1^st November 2018 – 31^st May 2020.); this means that the bulk of work contained within the entry must have been carried out within this time period (please note it is not essential that a project or case has both launched and closed within this time period).

GENERAL DOs and DON’Ts…

DO stick to the format dictated by the entry form; this makes it easier for the judges to see whether you have covered each point and benchmark your work against that of other firms.

DO NOT exceed the word limit; judges regularly penalise entrants for providing submissions longer than 1,500 words. We would recommend up to a maximum of 10% over.

DO NOT provide excessive supporting material; all substantive content should be included within your entry form. Supporting documents should be limited to graphs, charts etc, should be clearly referenced in the entry form and only uploaded when necessary to illustrate points made in the submission.

DO provide as many details of financial performance as possible; if marked as confidential, this information will be treated in the strictest confidence and not distributed outside of the judging panel and immediate operations team. Judges are within their right to mark down submissions that do not provide any financials.

DO double check your entry form before submitting; ask a colleague to proofread and ensure all track-changes and editing notes are removed.