Jointly hosted by leading UK publisher Legal Week and the Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (CLASA), the awards will for the first time unite the African legal and business community to celebrate excellence and innovation across Africa's legal profession. The awards are open to law firms and in-house legal teams operating throughout the continent, with winners chosen by a panel of independent judges comprised of top in-house counsel from across the region.
Among the other short-listed firms are Werksmans, which will compete for the Corporate Team of the Year award alongside Cliffe Dekker, Gabinete Legal Moçambique, Herbert Smith Freehills, Norton Rose Fulbright, Slaughter and May and Webber Wentzel. ENS meanwhile will fight it out against firms including Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, Bowman Gilfillan, Dentons, Norton Rose, Orrick and Slaughters for the Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of the Year award.
The in-house awards see Josie Lyon from Virgin Active South Africa, Luche Joubert from British American Tobacco South Africa, Madeleine Truter from Growthpoint Properties and Willie Du Plessis from Eskom running for the General Counsel of the Year award while Aspen Pharmacare, Eskom, Siemens and The Anglo American Group are all in contention for the Large In-House Team of the Year Award.
There are also a series of sector-based awards to celebrate the achievements of law firm teams working across the continent with the evening culminating with the CLASA Achievement Award recognising the outstanding contribution of an individual to the region's legal market.
Legal Week's acting editor Charlotte Edmond said: "It has been fantastic to see such a large number of high-quality entries in the first year of this event and I don't envy the judges trying to decide between them. We look forward to establishing The African Legal Awards as a key annual fixture in the legal calendar."
