Clyde & Co scooped the top accolade at The Lawyer Awards last night (29 June), securing the Law Firm of the Year award, sponsored by Travelers.

With the highest number of entries ever, this year’s awards included new in-house categories among the 27 hotly-contested titles judged by 43 top lawyers, including In-House Energy Team of the Year and In-House Retail & Leisure Team of the Year.

Clydes claimed the Law Firm of the Year award for the first time. Judges were impressed by the firm’s growth in the past few years and its development from being a UK-focused insurance practice.

Clydes has doubled in size twice in the last 10 years through a succession of strategic mergers – first acquiring its major rival Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, before more recently merging with Scotland’s Simpson & Marwick, among other acquisitions and hires.

Meanwhile, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher won the International Firm of the Year category in a ceremony at the InterContinental O2 hotel in London attended by over 1,300 lawyers and hosted by Dara Ó Briain.

Judges said: “Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s clear strategy both globally and in the UK is delivering results, positioning the firm at the very top of the market.”

The firm showed results based on a clear strategy of building a broad-based, international disputes and transactional offering in London on a US platform.

Pernod Ricard’s Ingrid Cope, who featured in this year’s Hot 100, won in-house lawyer of the year for her technology initiative involving legal, commercial and digital, which judges said showed “real forward thinking and huge energy”.

Essex Court Chambers was named Chambers of the Year 2016 following a spate of impressive cases, creativity and sensitivity on fee issues, clever business development initiatives and a commendable commitment to social mobility issues.

Ben Emmerson QC picked up Barrister of the Year for his work at the heart of two high-profile cases involving Russia. He represented ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvenenko’s family in one of the most high-profile court cases in British history; and acted for the Ministry of Justice in Georgia before the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the second inter-state case brought by Georgia against the Russian Federation in relation to the alleged attacks against civilians and the property in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Other high profile awards include Litigation Team of the Year, won by Irwin Mitchell, and Corporate Team of the Year, won by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

To find out more about all of the winners and runners-up, please click here.

The full list of winners and runners-up:

In-house TMT Team of the Year

  • Winner: Uber
  • Runner-up: BT/EE
  • Third: Rugby Football Union

In-house Retail Team of the Year

  • Winner: Associated British Foods/Primark
  • Runner-up: InterContinental Hotels Group
  • Third: Post Office

In-house Banking and Financial Services Team of the Year

Sponsored by UnitedLex

  • Winner: Funding Circle
  • Runner-up: TSB Bank
  • Third: Hyperion Insurance Group

In-house Health and Life Sciences Team of the Year

  • Winner: Spire Healthcare Group
  • Runner-up: GlaxoSmithKline
  • Third: Teva Pharmaceuticals

Finance team of the year

  • Winner: Herbert Smith Freehills
  • Runner-up: Macfarlanes
  • Third: Weil Gotshal & Manges

Corporate Team of the Year

Sponsored by Hawksford

  • Winner: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
  • Runner-up: Allen & Overy
  • Third: Linklaters

Real Estate Team of the Year

Sponsored by First Names Group

  • Winner: Burges Salmon
  • Runner-up: Mayer Brown International
  • Third: Hogan Lovells

Restructuring Team of the Year

  • Winner: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
  • Runner-up: Weil Gotshal & Manges
  • Third: Slaughter and May

Infrastructure Projects Team of the Year

  • Winner: Pinsent Masons
  • Runner-up: Linklaters
  • Third: Simmons & Simmons

Competition Team of the Year

  • Winner: Slaughter and May
  • Runner-up: Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
  • Third: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Employment Team of the Year

  • Winner: Ashfords
  • Runner-up: UNISON Legal Services
  • Third: Eversheds

Funds Team of the Year

  • Winner: King & Wood Mallesons
  • Runner-up: Osborne Clarke
  • Third: Herbert Smith Freehills

IP Team of the Year

  • Winner: Powell Gilbert
  • Runner-up: Wiggin
  • Third: Bird & Bird

Litigation Team of the Year

Sponsored by Millnet

  • Winner: Irwin Mitchell
  • Runner-up: Hogan Lovells
  • Third: Olswang

Energy Team of the Year

  • Winner: CMS
  • Runner-up: Herbert Smith Freehills
  • Third: Dentons

Pro-bono Initiative of the Year

  • Winner: Avon & Bristol Law Centre
  • Runner-up: Linklaters.com
  • Third: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

In-house Public Sector Team of the Year

  • Winner: Financial Services Compensation Scheme
  • Runner-up: Sport England
  • Third: nplaw

In-house Commerce and Industry Team of the Year

  • Winner: Carlson Wagonlit Travel
  • Runner-up: Unilever’s Global Categories and Intellectual Property Team
  • Third: Skyscanner

In-house Energy and Resources Team of the Year

  • Winner: RWE Innogy UK
  • Runner-up: Lightsource Renewable Energy
  • Third: Shell

In-house Lawyer of the Year

  • Winner: Ingrid Cope, Pernod Ricard
  • Runner-up: Sally-Ann James, Metro Bank
  • Third: Galit Gonen, Teva Pharmaceuticals

Chambers of the Year

Sponsored by Burford Capital

  • Winner: Essex Court Chambers
  • Runner-up: 1 Crown Office Row
  • Third: Monckton Chambers

Barrister of the Year

  • Winner: Ben Emmerson QC, Matrix Chambers
  • Runner-up: Nathalie Lieven QC, Landmark Chambers
  • Third: Mark Simpson QC, Fountain Court Chambers

Offshore Firm of the Year

  • Winner: Harneys
  • Runner-up: Ogier
  • Third: Carey Olsen

Boutique firm of the year

Sponsored by Towry

  • Winner: Roberts Jackson
  • Runner-up: Brecher
  • Third: Popplestone Allen

Regional Firm of the Year

  • Winner: Brodies
  • Runner-up: Stevens & Bolton
  • Third: Birketts

International Firm of the Year

Sponsored by Charteris Group

  • Winner: Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
  • Runner-up: Dentons
  • Third: White & Case

Law Firm of the Year

Sponsored by Travelers

  • Winner: Clyde & Co
  • Runner-up: Pinsent Masons
  • Third: RPC