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.

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 diversity 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

Find out more about this year’s winners in the Book of the Night 2016.