CATEGORY GUIDELINES
This category is open only to independent law firms in Europe. Firms headquartered outside Europe, or those which are branded members of an international alliance, are excluded.
The title of European managing partner of the year will be given to an outstanding leader (managing partner or similar, e.g. chairman), who has driven his or her firm forward with vision and sound judgment. The firm can be a boutique firm or a full-service leader in its country, but the submission must be able to show how the managing partner has impacted its recent success.
Judges will be looking for evidence of initiatives led by the managing partner which have improved client service, won work or clients, or changed the culture of the firm. The managing partner may also be fee-earning, but the emphasis should be on his or her management and leadership skills rather than billings.
To enter you must complete the entry form on the online entry portal.
Don’t forget, you can log-in and out of the entry portal as many times as you like prior to submitting.
WHAT WILL THE JUDGES BE LOOKING FOR IN THIS CATEGORY?
The entry form covers the following areas:
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Background – the individual, the team and the firm (750 words)
- Our judges will be looking for full background details of the individual, the team and the firm itself and how they have made a significant contribution and if they have overcome any challenges
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Your story in 2023 (750 words)
- Our judges want to see how else you’ve excelled over the past 18 months; this can include other key cases or client work, and any past career experience that is relevant to the current day, but should also include initiatives undertaken outside of the law, whether that be across commercial business development or efforts in D&I.
- Examples can include internal projects to drive efficiency and / or external legal casework and management
- Don’t forget to include statistical evidence and detail of other quantifiable outcomes to back up any successes
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Additional materials
- You should use this section to upload any testimonials that add weight to your entry, and any charts or other visual aids that illustrate your work.
There is a confidential information section on the form: We fully appreciate that some of the information you include in your entry may be sensitive. We want to encourage you to submit as much detail as possible, including financial performance where relevant, therefore please include in this section any sensitive information that should be treated for judges’ eyes only.
Previous winners:
2023 – Inês Sequeira Mendes, Abreu Advogados
2022 – Alejandro Touriño, ECIJA
2021 – Geoff Moore
2020 – Casper Herler, Borenius
2019 – João Vieira de Almeida, VdA
2018 – Bryan Bourke, William Fry
2017 – Eugenija Sutkiene, Tark Grunte Sutkiene
2016 – Luis de Carlos, Uría Menéndez
2015 – Dimitry Afanasiev, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners
2014 – Manuel Martin, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
General points to remember:
• The more detail you provide, the more likely your entry is to be highly ranked by our independent judges
• Client testimonials add extra weight to your entry – please provide them during the online entry process
• Please ensure you indicate clearly on your entry where information is confidential; the content of entries is for judges’ eyes only, however details given in your submission may be used in the shortlist announcement and the post-event editorial coverage when not marked otherwise
• Entries covering work outside of the dates given (April 2023 – present day) will not be considered