Once again, The Lawyer’s Hot 100, in association with AlixPartners and LexisNexis, gathers together the standout lawyers in the UK over the past year – the most daring, innovative and creative lawyers from in-house, private practice and the Bar.
Over the course of last year, hundreds of nominations poured in from across the legal profession, making the final selection one of the most competitive ever. In 2018 the inclusion of 51 women marked the first time the men have been outnumbered in the Hot 100; this year the pendulum has swung even further and there are 59 women on the list.
As always, the 2019 edition of the list includes a broad spectrum of lawyers: well-known names from the top ranks of the profession; experienced figures who have recently come to prominence after years of hard work; and rising stars whose names we will all get to know much better in the decades to come. Spotting future talent is one of the joys of the Hot 100, so it is pleasing to see that a lawyer who featured in the ‘Young Guns’ category of the Hot 100 2004 is now listed in the ‘Management’ section 15 years later.
Whatever the year, everyone who is named in the Hot 100 has one thing in common: they are the lawyers of the moment. All those on the 2019 list are shaping the legal profession right now; though many already have a distinguished career behind them, no one is included because of past glories.
Some have secured legal firsts in new and exciting areas of law. Others are at the cutting edge of tech. There are management figures taking law firms where law firms have never gone before, in-house counsel redefining what in-house teams should be, litigators fighting the key battles of our age and rainmakers working on the most significant transactions.
Brexit is naturally colouring the workload of many of the lawyers on this year’s list but happily the Hot 100 is one corner of the UK where it does not hold sway. From Sir Cliff Richard to Sergei Skripal; from Weinstein to Windrush, between them the Hot 100 class of 2019 have a hand in many of the biggest stories in the news today.
Congratulations to them all.
