This year’s Legal Cheek Awards takes place on Wednesday 14 March at Landing Forty Two of the Leadenhall Building (aka the ‘Cheesegrater’), 122 Leadenhall St, London, EC3V 4AB, from 6pm until 11pm. The Awards is invite-only.
The Legal Cheek Awards is sponsored by BARBRI.
The venue: Landing Forty Two
Landing Forty Two of the ‘Cheesegrater’ is the UK’s highest dedicated events space, offering stunning views of the Thames and London skyline from its unique viewpoint over 500ft above the city streets through its floor-to-ceiling windows.
The Shortlists
The first 14 Awards are based on the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyers Survey 2017-18 of over 2,000 trainees and junior lawyers at over 60 leading UK-based law firms.
Best Law Firm for Training 2018
Clifford Chance
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Macfarlanes
Mayer Brown
Mishcon de Reya
Osborne Clarke
RPC
TLT
Travers Smith
The best law firms to train with in Britain [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Quality of Work 2018
Baker McKenzie
Bristows
Forsters
Kirkland & Ellis
Osborne Clarke
Ropes & Gray
RPC
Taylor Wessing
TLT
Withers
The law firms that give their trainees the most interesting work [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Peer Support 2018
Bird & Bird
Bristows
Burges Salmon
Hill Dickinson
Mills & Reeve
Osborne Clarke
PwC
TLT
Travers Smith
Trowers & Hamlins
The law firms with the most supportive trainees in Britain [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Partner Approachability 2018
Presented by Carter Corson
Bird & Bird
Bristows
Hill Dickinson
Mills & Reeve
Osborne Clarke
RPC
TLT
Travers Smith
Trowers & Hamlins
Womble Bond Dickinson
The law firms with the most approachable partners in Britain [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Work/Life Balance 2018
Presented by LawCare
Bird & Bird
Bristows
DWF
Fieldfisher
Forsters
Irwin Mitchell
Mills & Reeve
Osborne Clarke
TLT
Trowers & Hamlins
The law firms with the best work/life balance [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Tech 2018
Presented by STEM Future Lawyers
Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird
Bristows
DWF
Gowling WLG
Linklaters
Osborne Clarke
Pinsent Masons
Reed Smith
Taylor Wessing
The most technologically advanced law firms in Britain [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Perks 2018
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Freshfields
Jones Day
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Ropes & Gray
Shearman & Sterling
Trowers & Hamlins
White & Case
Revealed: The law firms with the best perks [Legal Cheek]
Most Impressive Law Firm Office 2018
Allen & Overy
Burges Salmon
Clifford Chance
Gowling WLG
Kirkland & Ellis
Mishcon de Reya
Norton Rose Fulbright
Reed Smith
Ropes & Gray
Taylor Wessing
The most impressive law firm offices [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm Canteen 2018
Addleshaw Goddard
Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird
Burges Salmon
K&L Gates
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Reed Smith
Taylor Wessing
The most delicious and delightful law firm canteens [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Social Life 2018
Baker McKenzie
Bristows
Burges Salmon
Forsters
Kirkland & Ellis
Osborne Clarke
Taylor Wessing
Travers Smith
Trowers & Hamlins
Walker Morris
The law firms with the best social life [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for International Secondments 2018
Presented by HBW Consulting
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Dechert
Herbert Smith Freehills
Linklaters
Norton Rose Fulbright
Shearman & Sterling
Stephenson Harwood
Watson Farley & Williams
White & Case
Research: The firms that offer the most international secondments [Legal Cheek]
Best Law Firm for Client Secondments 2018
Baker McKenzie
Bristows
Charles Russell Speechlys
CMS
Dentons
DWF
Eversheds Sutherland
Mayer Brown
PwC
Reed Smith
RPC
Shoosmiths
Squire Patton Boggs
Walker Morris
Revealed: The firms that offer the most client secondments [Legal Cheek]
Most Admired Law Firm 2018
Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird
Burges Salmon
Freshfields
Herbert Smith Freehills
Hogan Lovells
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Mishcon de Reya
Slaughter and May
The Trainee and Junior Lawyer Firm of the Year 2018
Presented by BARBRI
Bird & Bird
Bristows
Burges Salmon
Gowling WLG
Kirkland & Ellis
Mills & Reeve
Osborne Clarke
RPC
Taylor Wessing
Trowers & Hamlins
Best Chambers for Training 2018
This award is based on the Legal Cheek Pupil and Junior Barrister Survey 2017-18 of over 500 pupil and junior barristers at the leading chambers in England and Wales.
Presented by The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting
Brick Court
Devereux Chambers
Doughty Street
5 Essex Court
Exchange Chambers
Hardwicke
Henderson Chambers
Littleton Chambers
Radcliffe Chambers
Serjeants’ Inn
2 Temple Gardens
Revealed: The best barristers’ chambers for training [Legal Cheek]
Best Use of Social Media 2018
Presented by Stock + Bokeh
Allen & Overy’s Snapchat
Berwin Leighton Paisner’s Vimeo interviews with students who have done their work experience schemes
Clifford Chance’s ‘Are You Ready’ YouTube video
CMS Academy video series
Dechert partner Miriam Gonzalez’s Instagram
Henderson Pupillages multi-media microsite
Herbert Smith Freehills’ ‘Too Good to Miss’ competition
Linklaters’ Silks canteen Instagram
Shearman & Sterling’s Facebook Livestreams
The UK Supreme Court’s Instagram
The winner of this category will be decided by an independent judging panel made up of Hannah Al-Othman (senior reporter at BuzzFeed), Aubrey Allegretti (political reporter at Sky News), The Secret Barrister (barrister and independent blogger), and Coleen Mensa (trainee solicitor at EY, vlogger and winner of last year’s Best Use of Social Media Award).
Best Legal Cheek Journal Contribution 2018
Fraser Collingham, Nottingham University
Gareth Wood, The University of Law
Jack Turner, Manchester University
James Brown, Keele University
Julia Babiarz, Manchester University
Laura Bliss, Edge Hill University
Matthew Breen, Dundee University
Michael Walker, Cambridge University
Omotayo Akorede, Bangor University
Zoe Bowler, Brighton University
The winner of this category will be decided by an independent judging panel made up of Joshua Rozenberg (legal affairs commentator and honorary QC), Thom Brooks (dean of Durham University Law School), Matthew Scott (leading barrister and blogger), and Tristan Kirk (Evening Standard court reporter).
Watch the highlights from the Legal Cheek Awards 2017
About the headline sponsor
BARBRI
BARBRI is a leader in international legal education.
In today’s increasingly globalised word, demand continues to grow for those who understand the workings and complexities of more than one jurisdiction. Governments, corporations, and educational institutions around the world are increasingly fostering global legal education and many of today’s lawyers operate internationally, across legal systems, dealing with transborder transactions and multijurisdictional problems and opportunities.
Many attorneys around the world are increasingly turning to BARBRI to gain the necessary credentials to make global practice a reality. As global legal educators, we at BARBRI believe in the importance of training 21st century lawyers for a global legal career. Whether you are a qualified lawyer outside of the U.S. considering sitting a U.S. state bar exam, you are considering sitting the QLTS exams to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales or are looking generally to enhance your legal skills through professional development, BARBRI has a course designed specifically for you.
About the Awards sponsors
Carter Corson
Carter Corson are a team of experienced business psychologists, offering a range of professional services including leadership development, coaching, team training, assessment and consultancy. You have the expertise in your business, we have the expertise in people, so by putting the two together there shouldn’t be any people-based challenge we can’t resolve or improve.
HBW Consulting
HBW Consulting is a boutique agency that works as a specialist extension to your graduate recruitment team. Helping law firms with media strategy, spend and analysis, we provide a personalised support system in order to help you achieve your attraction and marketing goals. We strive to be a flexible and resourceful addition to your team.
LawCare
LawCare is the charity that promotes and supports good mental health and wellbeing in the legal community throughout the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Jersey. We provide direct emotional support and information. We work in partnership with professional bodies, regulators, legal practices and legal education providers to encourage a proactive approach to mental health and wellbeing.
STEM Future Lawyers
STEM Future Lawyers is the UK’s first network for science, technology, engineering & maths students and graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in the law. We help connect the best STEM students and graduates with the UK offices of the world’s leading law firms through our panel discussions, Q&As and networking sessions.
Drawing upon relationships with nearly 50 elite firms and chambers, our objective is to facilitate the recruitment of students with the skills to bridge the gap between high-level legal practice and cutting-edge technological innovation.
Stock + Bokeh
At Stock and Bokeh our primary focus is content creation. We work closely with clients to create media elements that visually showcase their brand. We do this through Film Production, Photography and Design.
With a vast array of digital platforms to engage with, those first few seconds count. We aim to provide a multi-channel approach to all our clients from social media strategy to content snacking to docu-style media.
The ICLR
The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting, ICLR, is a legal charity, set up in 1865. We publish law reports of the judicial decisions of the Superior and Appellate Courts in England and Wales. Following Lord Woolf’s Practice Direction 2001: “For the avoidance of doubt, the ICLR official Law Reports should be cited in preference to any other series. Other series of reports may only be used when a case is not reported in the Law Reports.”