Lovells has received recognition for the following:
2009
Reactions, the global insurance magazine, has published its 2009 legal survey which features Lovells prominently.
Reactions' annual legal survey has been published in the June edition of the global insurance magazine. The results show which firms were 'winners', 'highly commended', and 'commended' in 7 categories (Regulatory, Litigation, Insolvency, Policy Drafting, ILS, Reinsurance and 'Overall') across 5 jurisdictions (US, Bermuda, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Latin America).
Lovells has performed strongly:
- we appear in more categories than any other firm
- we won more categories than any other firm
- we were highly commended in more categories more than any other firm
- we were commended in more categories than any other firm
- we were mentioned in more jurisdictions than any other firm in the regulatory, litigation, insolvency, reinsurance and 'overall' categories.
Planning Magazine Top 50: Michael Gallimore tops planning rankings, with Claire Dutch and Claire Fallows in top 50
Planning magazine has ranked Michael Gallimore as the highest rated individual planning solicitor in its annual survey of leading planning solicitors and barristers - the third consecutive year that he has received the accolade. Claire Dutch and Claire Fallows are ranked jointly in 28th position - the latter's first appearance in the survey.
Overall, Lovells was ranked fifth in the firm rankings, with Berwin Leighton Paisner, Eversheds, SJ Berwin and Herbert Smith in first to fourth places respectively.
The survey is compiled annually by Planning magazine following voting by planning solicitors and barristers. With three individual rankings in the top 50, we have improved on last year's performance and once again eclipsed the larger planning teams.
In ranking Michael in first position, the magazine quotes that he "deserves respect for his talents as a team leader and his ability to deliver sound and easily comprehensible advice".
Lovells is shortlisted for Banking & Finance Team of the Year and Pro Bono Team of the Year in The Lawyer magazine's 2009 Awards.
Banking & Finance Team of the Year: This nomination recognises the development of our market-leading practice for advising on complex, distressed structured finance transactions, including, most notably, distressed structured investment vehicles (SIVs). We have advised on more SIV structures than any other firm, with standout deals including the restructuring of SIV Portfolio plc (in receivership), a US$7 billion investment vehicle formerly known as Cheyne Finance plc.
Pro Bono Team of the Year: Since April 2007, we have contributed more than 475 hours to pro bono work in support of ParalympicsGB, a tremendous effort that has involved more than 26 lawyers from our offices in London, Beijing and Hong Kong. Achievements included providing advice on a wide range of commercial and legal issues in the lead-up to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, as well as on-site legal advice, in conjunction with the Beijing and Hong Kong offices, during the Games.
Lovells has been nominated for further three awards at Asian Legal Business (ALB) South East Asia Law Awards 2009
The ALB South East Asia Law Awards recognise the excellence of South East Asia's leading law firms as well as the top deals and dealmakers from over the past year.
Lovells has been nominated for the following award categories:
- Energy & Resources Law Firm of the Year
- M&A Deal of the Year - China Huaneng-Tuas Power acquisition
- Project Finance Deal of the Year - Resorts World Sentosa project finance
The nominations were decided by a panel of judges who took into account research undertaken by the ALB team, including interviews with leading practitioners and in-house counsel.
We have won the award of European Trade Mark Firm of the Year at the Managing Intellectual Property Global Awards
Managing Intellectual Property is the leading international magazine for IP owners. The awards recognise firms that have made outstanding achievements in IP over the last year. The firm was also shortlisted in the patents and high tech European categories, in the regional category for Asia Pacific, and for the national awards for China (foreign firms), Hong Kong, Germany (contentious), Russia and Spain (contentious).
Lovells ranked in Chambers Client Report FTSE survey
Lovells is mentioned in the annual Chambers Client Report survey of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. The research tracks the legal advisers used by corporates in the two indices.
Lovells is shown to have had a solid performance, and is ranked top of the 'biggest generalists' across the FTSE 100, providing nearly three types of specialist legal services per client.
Overall the firm in 12th place for its number of FTSE 100 clients and 16th overall for its number of FTSE 250 clients.
International Finance Law Review (IFLR) Europe
Our team won three awards, namely:
- Restructuring Team of the Year
- Restructuring Deal of the Year: Cheyne Finance structured investment vehicle (SIV)
- Pro Bono Team of the Year
The team was also shortlisted for:
- Restructuring Deal of the Year: Sigma Finance SIV
- Structured Finance Team of the Year
- Structured Finance Deal of the Year: Banca Popolare di Milano covered bonds
- Structured Finance Deal of the Year: Delta Spark
These latest wins continue our strong track record of success with the magazine after we picked up the Team of the Year (Structured Products) and Deal of the Year (Structured Products) awards in the 2008 ceremony.
To win three awards is a fantastic achievement, particularly in such a competitive field. We are immensely proud to have received recognition from this influential publication for our groundbreaking restructuring work and our pro bono projects.
We have won the award for Innovation in Talent Management & Retention at The Lawyer HR Awards
The award was won for the firm's new lawyer career model, in particular for the innovative development programmes that have been put in place to support the new model.
The Lawyer HR Awards are the only awards dedicated to HR and people management in the legal profession. The Innovation in Talent Management & Retention Award was a fiercely contested category where the judges struggled with the quality of entries. One of the judges commented on Lovells' development initiative "Here's a firm saying 'we want you to be different'. It's a big sea change from everything else I saw in the others".
Last October we were also Highly Commended in the Financial Times' Innovative Lawyers supplement for the development initiatives which were described as "well structured and interactive".
The Lawyer HR Awards also awarded Lovells a Highly Commended in the category of Best Corporate Responsibility Initiative for the breadth of our corporate social responsibility programmes and initiatives such as working with the National Centre for Domestic Violence, and securing compensation for the families of 30 London 7/7 bomb victims.
Lovells was awarded pro bono firm of the year at the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Asian Awards 2009.
Speaking at the ceremony, IFLR Asia editor Rachel Evans said:
"The IFLR Asia pro bono of the year award went to Lovells because the firm impressed us, not only with its charity work, but also its use of law to further good causes. The firm helped charities such as Christian Aid on its corporate governance structure, assisted Save the Children on establishing itself in Hong Kong, and counselled Trade plus Aid on protecting its intellectual property. Other worthy beneficiaries of its time include Aids Concern Foundation and Crossroads."
JUVE career magazine "azur" has ranked Lovells as fourth in its annual rankings of the most attractive employers for young lawyers. JUVE is Germany's leading legal publisher.
The list contains 138 law firms, in-house legal departments, public authorities and consulting firms - ranked in terms of their attractiveness for students, trainee lawyers and job candidates. The first nineteen places in the list are taken by major law firms. Ahead of Lovells are Freshfields, Clifford Chance, and Hengeler Mueller in first through third respectively.
We have received five nominations in the 2009 International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Europe Awards.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony in London on 19 March. Our nominations include:
- Restructuring Team of the Year
- Restructuring of the Year - Cheyne Finance structured investment vehicle (SIV)
- Restructuring Deal of the Year - Sigma Finance SIV
- Structured Finance Team of the Year
- Structured Finance Deal of the Year - Banca Popolare di Milano covered bonds
Seven nominations in IFLR Asian Awards and MIP Awards
In addition to our nominations in the IFLR Europe Awards, we also recently received a total of seven award nominations in the 2009 International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Asian Awards and the 2009 Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) Awards, for our work in Asia. Our IFLR Asian Awards nominations include:
- Private Equity Deal of the Year - SoftBank / OPI
- Restructuring of the Year - Peacemark
- Private Equity Team of the Year
- Restructuring Team of the Year
Selection of the winners is based on consultation with in-house counsel and financing specialists at financial institutions throughout Asia. The awards ceremony will be held at the Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong on 4 March.
Our MIP Awards nominations include:
- China Foreign Firms award
- Hong Kong award
- Asia-Pacific award
The awards will be presented to firms in recognition of outstanding achievement in IP over the past year. The winners will be selected by MIP's editorial team and researchers based on research conducted in 70 markets over a period of six months.
Lovells jumps 59 places to finish 15th in Mergermarket's 2008 M&A rankings
We are ranked in 15th position, up from 74th position in 2007, in Mergermarket's 2008 global M&A tables based on deal value. We advised on a total of 87 deals with a value of US$254 billion.
Within the various markets, the report also ranks Lovells as:
- 10th for European M&A by value (up from 50th in 2007) and 15th for European M&A by volume
- 6th for UK M&A by value (up from 44th)
- 12th for German M&A by value (up from 44th)
- 7th for French M&A by value (up from 55th)
- 11th for Asia-Pacific M&A by value (up from 38th)
- 8th for South East Asian M&A by value (up from 10th) and 13th for South East Asian M&A by volume (up from 25th)
- 10th for Australasian M&A by value (up from 110th).
Legal Business Awards 2009: Lovells shortlisted as Banking and Restructuring Team of the Year
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 12 February
Sentosa project named Leisure Deal of the Year by Project Finance International
The S$4.1925 billion Resorts World Sentosa Casino in Singapore, a project on which Lovells advised the five original mandated lead arrangers (DBS Bank Ltd, OCBC, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), has been named Leisure Deal of the Year by Project Finance International at the 2008 Asia Pacific Awards.
Lovells shortlisted in nine categories in The Lawyer HR Awards 2009
We have been shortlisted in nine of the 13 possible categories - more than any other firm - in The Lawyer's third annual HR Awards. The winners will be announced in February.
The categories in which we are nominated comprise: Best branding campaign, Most innovative recruitment initiative, Best international recruitment initiative, Innovation in talent management and retention, Most effective employee benefits scheme, Best corporate responsibility initiative, Most effective internal communication, Award for excellence in training and HR Director of the Year (Kay Willis).
Lovells wins two awards at WORLDleaders International IP Awards 2008
We won awards for 'Excellence in Domain Name Policy Implementation and Litigation' and, alongside our client Synergy, for 'In-House Trademark Management' at the WORLDleaders International IP Awards, held in London on 19 November.
The 'Excellence in Domain Name Policy Implementation and Litigation' award was an individual nomination for David Taylor for the development of a dedicated domain name practice within a law firm over the last 10 years, covering worldwide domain name registration, management and dispute resolution and the creation of a dedicated and unique practice within Lovells’ trademarked Anchovy®.
The 'In-House Trademark Management' award relates to our work with Synergy, one of the leading producers of distilled spirits in Russia. The Lovells Moscow IPMT team, led by partner Natalia Gulyaeva with assistance from senior associate Pavel Arievich and associate Mariam Isaeva, worked closely with Synergy's in-house team on the multi-million dollar acquisition of the IP assets of the Myagkov vodka brand in 10 jurisdictions of the CIS and Europe.
Lovells wins five JUVE awards including Law Firm of the Year and IP Law Firm of the Year
At the JUVE publishers' annual awards ceremony, held in Frankfurt on 6 November 2008, Lovells won the "Law Firm of the Year" award, the event's most prestigious award. The award criteria include law firms' legal expertise, strategic direction, service mindedness and future prospects. Lovells also won the JUVE Award for Intellectual Property – this marks the second time since 2005 that the IPMT practice has won the award for its excellence in trade mark, patent and unfair competition law.
In addition to the awards the new JUVE Handbuch directory for 2008/2009 names further award winners for various practice areas and regions. Lovells was also named Law Firm of the Year for patent law, insurance law and for the Western region of Germany.
Award: German Coaching Award 2008 for innovative people development
Gabriele Bollhoefer, Munich-based psycologist and coach for career development, received the German Coaching Award 2008 at an event in Potsdam, Germany on October 17. The award honours the innovative and successful implementation of coaching schemes in corporations. Business Development, Leadership and Team management are the core topics of the programme that was launched in Lovells in Germany in spring 2007.
Award: Lovells shortlisted for Private Equity Legal Advisor of the Year by The Financial Times and Mergermarket M&A awards
We have been shortlisted according to comprehensive mergermarket M&A deal data and are in the running alongside Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters and SJ Berwin.
Award: Lovells shortlisted for two British Legal Awards and three Pro Bono Awards
We are shortlisted in two categories – Property Team of the Year and Young Solicitor of the Year (Emma Higgs for pro bono work) – at the 2008 British Legal Awards. The winners will be announced at an awards dinner in London on 26 November. The pro bono team are also shortlisted for three awards at the 2008 Junior Lawyers Division Pro Bono Awards, which will be announced on 13 November.
Our British Legal Awards nominations comprise:
Property Team of the Year – The team is shortlisted for their work across the board including advising News International on its new headquarters building and an instruction by Equitable Life to advise on all real estate matters for its property portfolio, as well as for initiatives such as the Charitable Donation Leases.
Young Solicitor of the Year – Emma Higgs is nominated for her role co-ordinating Lovells' programme to assist victims of domestic violence and personally delivering advice through the programme.
Two pro bono teams have also been shortlisted for their work on domestic violence and on trafficking in the Junior Lawyers Division Pro Bono Awards. In addition, Gulley Shimeld, who was recently also nominated as Junior Lawyer of the Year in the Law Society Excellence Awards, is shortlisted for his work with ParalympicsGB.
Law Society’s Excellence Awards
Gulley Shimeld was named Junior Lawyer of the Year at the 2008 Law Society Excellence Awards for his work advising ParalympicsGB alongside Richard Welfare. He was presented with an award at a ceremony in London on 23 October.
The pro bono team's work advising in relation to trafficking was highly commended in the Excellence in Social Responsibility category at the awards. We were also shortlisted for three other awards including LCS Award for Excellence in Client Service (Barclays client training initiative), Excellence in Equality & Diversity (Widening access programme) and Excellence in Exporting Legal Services (SGLA).
Ranking: Lovells jumps 11 places in Financial Times Innovative Lawyers supplement
We are ranked 10th – up 11 places on last year – with three highly commended entries and two commended entries in the Financial Times’ fourth annual Innovative Lawyers supplement, which ranks Europe’s 50 most innovative law firms. The five entries for which we are recognised are:
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Management: The SGLA is highly commended in the Management category
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Client service: Lovells' Dawn raid defence training is commended for its "combination of imaginative and creative approaches" in the client service category
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Technology and know-how: InterLovells is highly commended in the Technology and Knowhow category and described as "one of the most comprehensive firm intranets"
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Human Resources: The Lovells Senior Associate Development programme is highly commended and described as "well structured" and "interactive"
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Human Resources: We are also commended for our structured training programme for business support staff, PAs, associates and trainees.
Ranking: Sharon Lewis ranked in Financial News’ list of 100 most influential women in finance
Sharon Lewis is listed in Financial News’ second annual ranking of the 100 most influential women working within the European finance sector. The list was published in Financial News magazine on 20 October.
Financial News initially canvassed the market for opinion over a three-month period, and drew up a long list of nominees based in Europe within in the sectors of investment banking, asset management, hedge funds, private equity, wealth management, exchanges, trading or support services to these sectors. Candidates were marked for influence over their area, leadership within their sector, performance over the past year, and their capacity to shape their business and/or industry over the coming year.
Ranking: Two Lovells partners listed in ALB’s Hot 100 list
Crispin Rapinet and Shibeer Ahmed were named in Asian Legal Business’s latest ranking of the Hot 100 lawyers in 2008 list. The ranking appears in this month’s issue of ALB magazine.
Crispin is profiled in the Hot 100’s The Statesmen section, which says: “Rapinet was re-elected as Lovells’ Middle East and Asia regional managing partner earlier this year after presiding over three years of stellar growth. The firm expanded its operations in all Asia jurisdictions through key lateral hires, having poached Owen Chan, Fred Chang and Brad Roach from Hong Kong and Singapore firms and a trio of Sukuk experts from Middle East rivals Denton Wilde Sapte.”
Shibeer is profiled in The Strategists section, which says: “Despite only entering the Middle East in May 2007, the team at Lovells is quickly establishing a reputation as a market leader, especially in the Sukuk market.”
Lovells has won the Best Management of Knowledge category at the Managing Partners Forum (MPF) Legal Awards
Lovells collected the Best Management of Knowledge award at the seventh annual MPF awards ceremony which was held last night. The award recognises "a firm that has consistently embedded internal and external knowledge into its people and its service delivery, leading to commercial success and engaged people, without continuously re–inventing the wheel".
Lovells also came second in the Best Client Initiative category for the Senior Associate Development Programme; second in the Best Learning Programme for the Lovells Corporate Solutions programme; and second in Best Mould Breaking Initiative for the Sino-Global Legal Alliance.
Ranking: Lovells breaks into top echelons in Bloomberg’s M&A rankings
Lovells has jumped to sixth position for UK deals, 10th for cross-border deals, 12th for Europe deals and 16th for global deals in Bloomberg’s ranking of legal advisers for M&A deals in the three quarters to 30 September 2008.
We are listed in the following categories in terms of total deal value:
- sixth position, up from 69th in 2007, for UK announced deals, with a total of 19 deals worth US$130 billion
- 10th place, up from 69th in 2007, for cross-border deals, with a total of 44 deals worth US$137 billion
- 12th position, up from 64th in 2007, for Europe announced deals, with a total of 61 deals worth US$149 billion
- 16th position, up from 80th in 2007, for global M&A deals, having advised on 68 deals with a total value of US$182 billion
We are also ranked seventh for Russia announced M&A deals, 11th for Italy, 12th for both Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) and Australia/New Zealand, 13th for both Eastern Europe and Germany, 14th for Iberia, 16th for Benelux and 18th for France announced deals.
Award: Lovells shortlisted in five categories at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards
We are shortlisted in five of 12 categories – more than any other firm – at the 2008 Law Society Excellence Awards.
Our shortlisted categories include:
- LCS Award for Excellence in Client Service – Barclays client training initiative
- Excellence in Equality & Diversity – Widening access programme
- Excellence in Exporting Legal Services – SGLA
- Excellence in Social Responsibility – Pro bono
- Junior Lawyer of the Year – Gulley Shimeld (for his work advising ParalympicsGB)
Award: Partos & Noblet – Lovells wins ILO Client Choice Award for Hungary
Partos & Noblet – Lovells has won the International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Award for Hungary. The awards are unique in that only in-house counsel are approached for nominations.
Awards shortlist: Lovells’ client Synergy shortlisted for WORLDleaders International IP Award
We nominated client Synergy for the 'In-House Trademark Management' award (EMEA) at the WORLDleaders International IP Awards. The nomination relates to the multi-million acquisition of the IP assets of the Myagkov vodka brand in 10 jurisdictions of the CIS and Europe.
The work was handled by Synergy's in-house team supported by Lovells’ Moscow IPMT team.
Lovells has also been shortlisted in the categories of 'Excellence in Private Practice Patent litigation (EMEA)' and 'Excellence in Domain Name Policy Implementation'.
Awards shortlist: Lovells shortlisted in three categories at the Financial News Legal Awards
We are shortlisted for Debt and Credit Team of the Year, Fund Management Team of the Year and Hedge Funds Team of the Year at the second annual Financial News Legal Awards 2008. The winners will be announced on 25 November.
Legal 500 UK - rankings
The firm has been ranked in ten top-tier categories in latest UK Legal 500 rankings The top rankings comprise: Commercial Property, Commercial Property: Investment, Fraud, Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory, Insurance: Insolvency and Restructuring, Pensions Dispute Resolution, Product Liability, Repackaging, Trade Finance and Indirect Tax. In addition, we are listed in 16 second-tier categories, 17 third-tier, 11 fourth-tier and five fifth-tier categories – 60 in total out of a possible 72.
Juve
Nominated as Law Firm of the Year.
Asian Legal Business
Nominated in the following categories:
- Banking Firm of the Year
- Construction Firm of the Year
- Intellectual Property Firm of the Year
Asian Counsel Magazine
TMT Firm of the Year 2008
China Law & Practice
Nominated in the following categories:
- International Firm of the Year (IP)
- Deal of the Year (M&A)
- Deal of the Year (Private Equity)
Who's Who 2008
Law Firm of the Year for Insurance & Reinsurance
Chambers Euro 100 Survey 2008
Lovells is the leading City firm outside the 'magic circle' in terms of both the number of Euro 100 clients and the size of the Euro 100 clients by market capitalisation. The firm jumped two places to 5th position for number of clients and three places to 5th position in terms of market capitalisation.
WORLDleaders International IP Awards 2008
Shortlisted in two categories:
- Excellence in Private Practice Litigation
- Excellence in Domain Name Policy Implementation
FT Innovative Lawyer Awards 2008
Shortlisted in the HR category.
MPF European Practice Management Awards 2008
Shortlisted in the following seven categories:
- Best Client Inititative - Dawn raids training
- Best Client Initiative: Corporate solutions
- Best HR Initiative
- Best Marketing Campaign
- Best Mould-breaking Initiataive
- Best Management of Knowledge
- Best Learning Programme
LexisNexis Taxation Awards 2008
Best Tax Team in a Law Firm 2008 (Winner)
Best VAT Team 2008 (Finalist)
International Tax Review
European Tax Litigation Firm of the Year 2008 (Finalist)
Tax - Italy 2008 (Finalist)
Tax - Spain 2008 (Finalist)
The Lawyer Awards 2008
Shortlisted in the following categories:
Assistant Solicitor of the Year award (Charles Brasted)
Corporate Team of the Year (Equitable Life)
Employment Team of the Year (Deutsche Bahn)
February 2008: Lovells shortlisted in The Times Graduate Recruitment AwardsWe have been shortlisted in the top six for the best graduate website in The Times' 11th annual Graduate Recruitment Awards 2008. The firm previously won this award in 2006.
Award: Lovells named as Most Enterprising Law Firm of the Year at The Legal Business Awards 2008
We won the award for Most Enterprising Law Firm of the Year – for the launch of the Sino-Global Legal Alliance (SGLA).
Award: Justin Harness, Head of Knowhow, won the International Knowledge Officer of the Year Award at the third annual Legal Technology Awards 2008.
Justin was recognised for his contribution to the Knowledge Management field through his work at Lovells and, more recently with Barclays, which supported the nomination.
January 2008: Directory rankings: Lovells ranked number one PPP legal adviser in 2007 at the top of Infrastructure Journal's PPP Legal Adviser table, having closed the highest value of PPP deals in 2007.
Infrastructure Journal has reported that Lovells advised on 18 PPP deals with a combined value of US$12 billion (9.5% of market share) between 1 January and 31 December 2007. The projects included the Milan Metro Line project, the Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata & Leftkro-Sparta Motorway project in Greece, Petrus Land Securities PPP Portfolio refinancing and London Underground Northern Line PPP restructuring.
Award: Lovells named as finalist in RAD Awards 2008
With our recruitment advertising agency Barkers, we were one of three finalists in the 'employer website' category at the 18th annual Recruitment Advertising Awards 2008. .
2007
November 2007:
Rachel Kent named Best Legal Advisor at Compliance Register's Outstanding Service to Compliance and Regulation (OStCaR) Awards 2007
Rachel Kent won the Best Legal Advisor Award in the Regulatory and Commercial category at fourth annual OStCaR Awards 2007. The award, which is divided into two categories – Litigation, Investigation and Enforcement, and Regulatory and Commercial, takes into account the quality of skills, knowledge and compliance standards achieved.
Lovells wins WORLDleaders International IP award for Trademark Excellence
We have received the WORLDeaders International Trademark Excellence award for our work representing the Swedish retailing giant Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) in a dispute against a Russian holder of the H&M trademark in Russia.
The WORLDleaders awards, run by legal publishers Informa Law, are designed to recognise outstanding achievements by IP practitioners.
The Hennes & Mauritz litigation was handled by Moscow consultant Natalia Gulyaeva and associate Konstantin Bochkarev with support of London partner David Latham. We represented H&M at the court of first instance, appeal and cassation appeal within a period of seven months. All courts ruled that the Russian holder had no rights to the H&M trademark
Lovells wins team award in Young Lawyer Pro Bono Awards 2008
We won the team award in the Law Society's ninth annual Young Lawyer Pro Bono Awards for our work with the Action for Blind People Micro Businesses.
Action for Blind People is a Bermondsey-based charity that provides visually impaired people with opportunities for employment within fully functioning small businesses. Since March 2007, trainees Heather Gagen, Edward Mathison, Shrina Shah and Katalina Chin (the latter while on secondment to Lovells from ITV) have helped three visually impaired entrepreneurs to each set up their own business, providing pro bono advice on corporate, employment, property and contractual matters.
Lovells wins Team Award in the Law Society's Young Lawyer Pro Bono Awards
Four Lovells' trainees, Heather Gagen, Shrina Shah, Edward Mathison and Katalina Chin, won the Team Award at the Law Society's ninth annual Young Lawyer Pro Bono Awards for their work with the Action for Blind People Micro Businesses.
November 2007: Lovells wins Dispute Resolution Firm of the Year and Firm of the Year for Junior Staff Development at the Juve Awards
Dispute Resolution Firm of the Year
Juve said that a dynamic generation of young lawyers has closed the gap to the "mahatmas" in the Dispute Resolution practice, Dr Thilo von Bodungen and Dr Volker Triebel. The growth and development of the practice was consistently being pushed, and that development was reflected in the fact that a partner of the younger generation, Dr Detlef Hass, heads the practice.
Firm of the Year for Junior Staff Development
Juve emphasised our senior associate training and the introduction of new career levels. It also said that Lovells is a female-friendly law firm, with the percentage of female associates and female young professionals lying significantly above market average.
Comment: The Awards honour leading commercial law firms in Germany, and are presented on the basis of comprehensive research by Juve, Germany’s leading legal publisher, when compiling the annual "Juve Handbook of Commercial Law Firms".
July 2007: Lovells wins AGR Award for Best Website
News: Lovells has been awarded Best Website at the 2007 annual Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) awards, in the category for companies recruiting between 30 and 100 graduates.
Detail: The awards, now in their 19th year, were announced on 10 July at the organisation’s annual conference in Newport, Wales. They recognise and reward graduate recruiters for creative and innovative campaigns that attract the best graduate talent. The awards are unique to the industry in that they are judged independently by students and professional graduate recruiters and are free for members to enter. They are designed to highlight best practice in terms of graduate attraction and to ensure standards within the industry remain high. Winners alongside Lovells in the Best Website categories included Parsons Brinkerhoff (for companies recruiting up to 30 graduates) and Allen & Overy (for companies recruiting over 100 graduates). Dresdner Kleinwort won the overall award.
Comment: Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the AGR, said: “The quality of entries for this year’s awards was once again extremely high, and the judges had a difficult time singling out winners for each category. Attracting the best graduates continues to be competitive, and AGR members are rising to the challenge by demonstrating innovation and creativity in order to stand out from the crowd.”
June 2007: Michael Gallimore ranked as top planning solicitor in England and Wales
News: Planning magazine has named Michael Gallimore as the highest rated individual planning solicitor in their annual survey of leading planning solicitors and barristers. Michael was ranked second in last year's survey. In the ranking of firms, the magazine placed Lovells in third position for planning work, up from sixth position in 2006.
Detail: The survey is compiled by Planning magazine following voting by planning lawyers and planning consultants. Lovells was named as third equal in the firm rankings alongside Denton Wilde Sapte and SJ Berwin. Berwin Leighton Paisner and Eversheds were in first and second place respectively.
Comment: Lovells’ rankings demonstrate our consistently high level of individual and collective talent in this field, and reflects the firm's reputation for top-quality market-leading planning and development work.
June 2007: Lovells recognised in annual FT innovation rankings
News: Lovells has been highly commended in the Financial Times 'Innovation Lawyers Report' for its innovations in human resources and corporate social responsibility ("CSR"). The annual survey of cutting-edge practice in the legal profession was published on 6 July.
Detail: Lovells' Cass business programme and the Lovells Touch campaign were highly commended in the human resources and CSR categories respectively. The firm was also ranked 21st in the Law 50 table of innovative firms in Europe.
The report, sponsored by BDO Stoy Hayward and conducted using research carried out by RSG Consulting, recognises the efforts of law firms in developing new ways of doing business as they strive to win and retain corporate clients in an increasingly competitive market. The rankings are classified as "stand out", "highly commended" and "commended". This year - the second in which the awards have been held - the report assessed innovations from January 2004 to April 2007, and broadened the scope to cover mainland European law firms, in-house lawyers in European companies, lawyers in the UK’s public sector and US law firms operating in Europe.
In addition to the human resources and CSR submissions, Lovells submitted two entries for use of technology (Anchovy and the Graduate Recruitment Website).
Last year, the firm entered six submissions and was recognised in five: public policy pro bono work ('stand out' in CSR category); Anchovy ('stand out' in use of technology); Mexican-Wave ('highly commended' in customer relationships), TransAct and Graduate Recruitment Website (both 'highly commended' in use of technology).
Comment: The report recognises the firm's commitment to pro bono work and people management.
May 2007: Lovells has been recognised for outstanding achievement in Chambers Europe
May 2007: Lovells named world's leading firm for insurance and reinsurance expertise for third consecutive year
News: Lovells has been named global Insurance & Reinsurance Law Firm of the Year in the 2007 Who’s Who Legal Awards. This is the third consecutive time the firm has been recognised, having won the award every year since its inception in 2005.
Detail: Who’s Who Legal lists the leading practitioners in each field, based exclusively on the findings of a six-month independent research process. Ten Lovells partners in three jurisdictions and two US states received sufficient nominations from their clients and peers to be included in the insurance and reinsurance chapter of the publication. Lovells has more practitioners included in the chapter than any other firm. The 10 partners listed are John Young, John Trotter, Peter Taylor, Robin Spencer and John Powell (London); Joe McCullough and Eric Haab (Chicago); David Alberts (New York); and Paolo Ricci and Leah Dunlop (Rome). The winners were formally announced in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2007, a compendium edition of all the individual Who’s Who Legal publications which was released in April.
Comment: Who’s Who Legal editor in chief Callum Campbell said: “Lovells’ continuing success demonstrates its consistent and unparalleled level of individual and collective talent in this field. We have no hesitation in declaring Lovells the world’s leading firm for insurance and reinsurance expertise."
May 2007: Lovells nominated as Tax Firm of the Year in the 2007 European Tax Awards
News: Lovells has been shortlisted by International Tax Review (ITR) for the Tax Firm of the Year Award for Germany. The awards ceremony will be held in London on 24 May.
Detail: The firm is nominated for its work advising on the €5.416 billion multi-family commercial mortgage-backed securitisation of part of Terra Firma's residential housing portfolio, Deutsche Annington Immobilien. The deal, which completed on 3 August 2006, is the largest ever German commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issue and remains the largest real estate and private equity transaction in Germany. At the time, it was the largest ever private equity deal in continental Europe. The Anglo-German team was led by head of finance David Hudd, Stephan Geibel (tax structuring), Mark Donald (leveraged finance), Philipp Grzimek (corporate), Katlen Bloecker (finance) and Bernard Kuhn (real estate).
Comment: The award is testament to the firm's reputation in Europe for carrying out high-end market leading work. The achievement is impressive in the light of ITR's comment that it received a far greater number of, and more detailed, submissions from firms than in previous years.
May 2007: Lovells receives client care award from International Law Office
News: We have been identified as an excellent client care provider in Hong Kong by the International Law Office (ILO).
Detail: The ILO Client Choice Awards identify law firms that stand apart for the excellent client care they provide. To select the award winners, the research process focused on law firms’ ability to add real value to their clients’ businesses. The shortlist was generated from an independent ILO subscriber survey of corporate counsel, which received over 1,000 responses, as well as additional research and detailed interviews conducted by an in-house ILO team. Firms were assessed on a number of criteria: quality of legal advice; value for money; commercial awareness; effective communication; billing transparency; tailored fee structures; depth of team; response time; sharing of expertise; and use of technology. Winners were identified for 34 jurisdictions. ILO was launched in 1998 and is one of the leading legal update services for major companies worldwide. It is a key portal through which law firms can communicate with clients.
May 2007: Lovells wins Best Graduate Website award for second consecutive year
News: Lovells won the award for Best Graduate Website for the second consecutive year at the 2007 TARGET National Graduate Recruitment Awards, organised by specialist graduate careers publisher GTI, on 2 May. The firm was also shortlisted as Graduate Employer of the Year and Most Popular Graduate Recruiter in the legal sector.
Detail: The firm fended off competition from Addleshaw Goddard, Allen & Overy, KBC Financial Products, PricewaterhouseCoopers and RBS to win the website award, which was sponsored by the Daily Telegraph. The category is judged by an expert panel comprising representatives from major graduate recruiters, chaired by a leading independent expert. Lovells was nominated alongside IBM UK (the winner), Allen & Overy, Accenture, Barclays, BT, Carillion plc, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, JP Morgan, KPMG, McKinsey, Microsoft and Rolls Royce for the Graduate Employer of the Year award. In the Most Popular Graduate Recruiter in Law category, the firm was nominated alongside Allen & Overy (the winner), Clifford Chance, Eversheds, Linklaters and Slaughter & May. These awards were voted for by a student poll of almost 30,000 online votes.
Comment: The award and nominations are a further recognition of the firm's market-leading graduate recruitment efforts. Lovells' nomination as Graduate Employer of the Year - one of only two nominees from the legal sector - is particularly important given that the award is voted for by students and graduates.
March 2007: US Insurer Awards 2007
Lovells has been voted Law Firm of the Year by the readers of this publication.
March 2007: Lovells wins Asia-Pacific Utilities Deal of the Year from Project Finance magazine
Singapore Waste to Energy Project (also known as "the Fifth Incinerator Project") won Utilities Deal of the Year 2006 at the award dinner on 22 March 2007, organised by the Project Finance magazine
March 2007: Lovells wins M&A Deal of the Year at the 2007 IFLR Asian Awards News: Softbank's US$15 billion acquisition of Vodafone Japan won M&A Deal of the Year at the 2007 IFLR Asian Awards on 1 March.
Lovells advised SoftBank throughout. Lovells was also short-listed for three other awards, including International Law Firm of the Year, M&A Team of the Year and Securitisation Team of the Year. The US$12 billion whole business securitisation of Softbank, on which Lovells also advised, was nominated as Securitisation Deal of the Year.
February 2007: Legal Business Awards 2007
Competition Team of the Year:
For the team led by Susan Bright and Simon Polito advising MasterCard UK Members Forum in the joint appeal with RBS and MasterCard International against the OFT's ruling on MasterCard's interchange arrangements.
Real Estate Team of the Year:
For the team led by Mike Gallimore, Andrew Sanders and Gill McGreevy advising Argent on the redevelopment of King's Cross Central. The regeneration scheme is one of the largest and highest profile in Europe and involved complex planning issues for the 67 acre site next to a major transport interchange containing listed buildings and conservation areas. The scheme has just received planning permission.
IFLR 1000
The 2007 IFLR 1000 legal directory has ranked Lovells among the UK market leaders for a significant number of its practice areas. For more information please
click here.
2006
Award: Transport Finance Awards 2006 Detail: Lovells' client Natixis received the Transport Finance Middle East Leasing Deal of the Year for a US$90 million optimised French tax lease on which the firm advised.
Award: Lovells receives Compliance Register Best Legal Services Award News:
We have been awarded the Best Legal Services Award for litigation, investigation and enforcement at The 2006 Compliance Register Outstanding Service to Compliance and Regulation (OStCaR) Awards held in London on 23 November.
Detail: The objective of The OStCaR Awards is to give recognition for excellence to individuals and firms in the financial services and telecoms industries. The firm, nominated alongside Clifford Chance and Herbert Smith, was voted the best for attributes such as high quality services, reasonable cost and good industry reputation by a panel of independent lawyers in the financial and telecommunications sector.
Award: Lovells IP team awarded "Best Achievement in IP Enforcement" News: We have won an award at the WORLDleaders European IP Awards 2006 which took place on 16 November.
Detail: The WORLDleaders awards, run by legal publishers Informa Law, are designed to recognise outstanding achievements by European IP practitioners. The best achievement in IP Enforcement award was received for the work we did for Anheuser-Busch Inc, concerning the BUDWEISER mark in Portugal. The team was led by Burkhart Goebel in Madrid and Dietrich Ohlgart in Hamburg.
Comment: The case concerning the Budweiser mark in Portugal is the first case for the European Court of Human Rights to rule on the protection of trademarks under the property guarantees of the European Convention of Human Rights. The judges said that this entry demonstrates creative first time use of ECC human rights for trademark protection and it demonstrates the expertise available across our offices.
Further information from Giles Daubeney.
2006 Juve Award (November)
2006 Chambers & Partners UK Legal Directory(November)
- The 2006 Chambers & Partners UK legal directory has ranked Lovells among the UK market leaders for a significant number of its practice areas. For more information please click here.
Lord Mayor of London's Dragon Awards (November)
Award: Lovells and Barclays win Community and Social Inclusion Award News (October)We have won the 2006 Community and Social Inclusion Award at the Lord Mayor of London's Dragon Awards, held on Thursday 19th October at Mansion House. The Dragon Awards recognise businesses in London which have taken an active responsibility towards their neighbouring boroughs, sharing knowledge, expertise and time through groundbreaking community projects. Detail: We made our submission for our joint project with Barclays - Bow County Court Advisory Network Scheme (BCCAN). BCCAN provides housing debt advice and representation to residents facing eviction, who come before Bow County Court. This service is the only one spread across four London boroughs covering all of the London Borough of Newham, and parts of Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Redbridge. Through a joint partnership with Barclays, Community Links and Lovells we have managed to secure the future of the scheme after it faced closure in 2004/5 due to lack of funding and support. The scheme provides vital help to over 1,000 people a year who face the very real prospect of losing their homes in court hearings where legal aid is not available. The service now also provides a debt advisory service on site, to help those facing eviction better manage their finances. Comment: The credit for this award goes to the forty Lovells' volunteer lawyers who attend the Court on nine afternoons a month. Between them, they have represented 452 clients with only 10 evictions. In addition, we provide a further 30 lawyers to assist with disability living allowance appeals, often for people who are also facing eviction and have been referred through the BCCAN scheme. Further information from Yasmin Waljee.
Award: New award for Lovells' Anchovy online brand protection service News (October)
Lovells' innovative use of technology has been recognised with a major professional services award for the firm's global online brand management and protection service, Anchovy. The Managing Partners' Forum (MPF) 2006 European Practice Management Award for 'Best use of Technology' is one of 14 awards honouring the contribution of different disciplines to managing a professional firm with a European presence. The award was presented at a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square on 3 October 2006.
Detail: First introduced in 2002, MPF's awards are the only awards focusing on the full range of management disciplines in a professional services firm in Europe. The awards aim to recognise the most noteworthy contributions from best brand to best management of facilities and best marketing campaign. Anchovy is an internally grown global online brand protection service developed by the Paris IP team with our London IT developers over the last six years. It comprises domain name registration, management, recovery and protection. Part of the success of the project is demonstrated by recent work on the new .eu domain extension. Since December 2005, Anchovy and the Lovells Domain Name Practice has guided 44 clients through the complicated EC Regulations governing .eu and enabled them all to secure their intellectual property.
Comment: The judges citation reads: "Lovells' Anchovy offering outshone the competition by demonstrating a clear understanding of a highly specialised client business need to protect brands on the internet globally and showcasing the ability of the firm's lawyers, IT organisation and staff to develop and support a commercially successful online service that satisfies an important client business problem and distinguishes Lovells as an innovator able to use technology effectively to seize a real competitive advantage in the legal marketplace."
Further information on Anchovy from David Taylor and on MPF at www.mpfglobal.com.
Law Society and Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) (September)
FT Innovation rankings (June)
- Ranked 9th in table of 'Top 10 Innovations by law firms'
- 'Stand out' (top tier of three) for Public policy pro bono work ('Corporate Social Responsibility); Anchovy ('Use of Technology')
- Highly commended (second tier of three) for Mexican-Wave (Customer Relationships); Anchovy; Graduate Recruitment Website (Use of Technology)
ReActions annual survey (May)
- Ranked number 1 in Europe for Regulation, Litigation, Corporate Contracts, Policy Drafting, Insolvency and Reinsurance.
- Highly commended (top three firms) in the USA for Regulation, Corporate Contracts, Policy Drafting, Insolvency and Reinsurance.
- Commended for Litigation
The Times (April)
- The Times Graduate Recruitment Award for the best graduate recruitment website.
Managing Intellectual Property (March)
- Leading multi-jurisdictional firm in Europe
- Firm of the year - Germany
Euromoney (January)
Project Finance Deal of the Year for:
- EMEA Refinancing deal - Skynet
- EMEA Healthcare deal - Mestre
Legal Technology Awards (January)
Won:
- 'Training Initiative of the Year' for TransAct.
2005
Juve (October)
- Law Firm of the Year 2005 for M&A and EPR in Germany
The lawyer Awards 2005 (June)
- Joint third: Employment Team of the Year (Stephanie Villalba case)
Young Solicitors' Pro Bono Awards - The Law Society (June)
- Victoria Richter for Innovation (Action for Blind)
- Bow County Court Team for volunteers (Evictions)
Who's Who Legal Awards (April)
- 'Global Insurance and Reinsurance Law Firm of the Year 2005'
Naming: John Powell, Robin Spencer, Peter Taylor, John Trotter, John Young, Eric Haab, Joe McCullough, David Alberts, Gary Lee
Trade Finance Awards - Deals of the Year (March)
Duferco la Louviere (adviser to Deutsche Bank and UFJ Bank)
Pamapersada (adviser to Standard Chartered Bank)
Hong Kong Council of Social Service (January)
- 2005 Award for Caring Company received by Lovells HK
2004
Legal Week Client Survey Awards 2004 (December)
- Winner: 'Property Team of the Year'
In Brief 2004 Loties (November)
- Winner: Besy use of technology (e-discovery/ electronic disclosure)
- Winner: E-copy and Cannon merit award - Best Legal Automation Project (Mexian-Wave)
Décideurs Stratégie Finance Droit (November)
- Winner: 'Debt Capital Markets Team of Year Award'
The International Who's who of Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers (October)
- Named number one firm in the world for reinsurance legal expertise.
Asian Legal Business (September)
- Won 'Managing Partner of the Year' (Allan Leung and Tim Hill)
- Won 'Employer of Choice'
- Plus, finalists in the categories, banking, construction, securitisation and IP.
Juve (September)
- Winner - Munich Law Firm of the Year
International Association for Continuing Legal Education's (ACLEA) (June)
- For the firm's in-house 'TransAct' training programme. 'Professional Excellence' award for 'Best Programme' is the top award in that category and is one of only 16 annual awards granted to ACLEA members representing more than 300 organisations.
Business in the Community Award for Excellence 2004 (June)
- Healthy Communities Award for Regional Programmes New Start.
Young Solicitors Group Pro Bono Awards 2004 (June)
- Shortlisted for three team awards.
The Lawyer Awards 2004 (May)
- 2nd place - Law Firm of the Year
- 2nd place - Projects/PFI Team of the Year
- 3rd place - Media IP/IT Team of the Year for our involvement in the BACSTEL-IP project
Chambers Awards 2004 (May)
- Communications/IP Law Firm of the Year
IFLR (April)
- Project Finance Team of the Year (Skynet5)
Legal Business Awards (February)
- TMT Team of the Year (for Granada/Carlton merger)
Infrastructure Journal (January)
- Deal of the Year 2003 for Skynet 5
2003
Jane's Transport Finance Awards 2003 (December)
EVCA/Real Deals European Private Equity Awards (December)
- Runner up: Law Firm of the Year
Reactions Award: Law Society of the Year (October)
- 2nd place for services to the reinsurance industry
Community Links 'Changing People's Lives Award' (October)
- For pro bono work in the east London Borough of Newham
Decideurs Juridiques Trophées du Droit (October)
- Managing Partner of the Year - Robert Follie
Juve Handbook 2003 (September)
Law Firm of the Year 2003 for:
- Private Equity & Venture Capital
- Press & Publishers (Presse & Verlage)
- Product Liability (Produkthaftung)
Legal Business 100 (September)
First place in the composite rankings
- Based on six key indicators of financial performance, Lovells is the best preforming firm of 2003
Business in the Community Awards for Excellence 2003 (July)
- Healthy Communities Award for Regional Programmes (New Start)
The Lawyer Awards 2003 (June)
- Winner: Client Care Programme of the Year (Mexican-Wave)
- 2nd place: M&A Team of the Year
- 3rd place: Pro Bono Activity of the Year
- Short listed for Law Firm of the Year
Young Solicitors Group Pro Bono Awards 2003 (June)
- Winner: Best Team (Green-Works)
International Financial Law Review Awards 2002 (April)
- Runner up: Project Finance Team of the Year
- Winner: Deal of the Year (Tube Lines)
Legal Business Awards 2003 (March)
- Honourable Mention - Compeition Team of the Year
- Honourable Mention - M&A Team of the Year
- Honourable Mention - Most Enterprising Law Firm of the Year
- Honourable Mention - Law Firm of the Year
Birmingham Post (March)
- Deal of the Year Award (Dignity Caring Funeral Services)
Asian Legal Business Awards, Singapore (March)
- Corporate Commercial Law - Andrew Ang (Lee & Lee)
- Banking Law - Paul Oldman and Andrew Ang
- Insolvency - Richard Shean
- Project Finance - James Harris
- Property - Kwan Kim Li (Lee & Lee)
- Construction - Glen Cheng (Lee & Lee)
Juve Kanzlei des Jahres (February)
- Office of the Year - Düsseldorf