Legal Week reveals shortlist of Best Client Partners

Legal Week has revealed its shortlist of top client partners after polling in-house lawyers at major corporates to find their favourite legal advisers.

The Client Partner of the Year will be announced at next Wednesday’s British Legal Awards.

Legal Week Intelligence, the research arm of Legal Week, is currently surveying senior in-house lawyers for its 12th annual Best Legal Adviser report, and the shortlist is based on respondent recommendations.

The survey, which is canvassing the views of 1,000 general counsel, asks respondents which aspects of law firm service are most important and then asks them to rate how satisfied they are with their external law firms on the same criteria.

Topics covered include standout client partners, innovation, value, partner contact, value added services, responsiveness and more.

The shortlist for Client Partner of the Year is:

- Andrew Davies, DLA Piper - Anna Delgado, Ashurst - Gary Attle, Mills & Reeve - Katherine Coates, Clifford Chance - Oliver Bray, RPC - Pamela Thompson, Eversheds - Veronica Roberts, Herbert Smith Freehills - William Underhill (pictured top), Slaughter and May

DLA partner Andrew Davies is a corporate lawyer who advises public and private companies on M&A, joint ventures and restructuring. He has a strong domestic and cross-border practice and also acts for venture capitalists and management teams in private equity transactions.

Anna Delgado is a partner in Ashurst’s London finance department. Her practice focuses on equity and debt capital market issuances. She acts for underwriters and issuers on matters such as bond issues, convertible bonds, medium term note programmes and derivative securities.

Cambridge-based Gary Attle leads Mills & Reeves’ public law and regulatory team and also heads the firm’s university business group. He advises on education law, data protection, freedom of information, governance and judicial review.

Katherine Coates heads Clifford Chance’s financial institutions group in London as well as the firm’s global insurance sector group. This is the second year in a row she has been shortlisted for the Best Client Partner award. The mainstays of her practice are non-contentious insurance matters and M&A and other corporate issues.

RPC partner Oliver Bray has a practice which focused on commercial, intellectual property and technology matters. He advises retailers, start-ups, brands and advertising and marketing agencies on issues such as consumer and data protection law, commercial contracts and regulatory matters.

Pamela Thompson is joint head of Eversheds’ financial services team. She undertakes general financial services work as well as specialising in advising on pooled investments, collective investment schemes and financial services regulatory work.

Veronica Roberts is a partner in Herbert Smith Freehills’ competition practice. A solicitor advocate, she regularly litigates before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the European Court of First Instance. She acts for clients in their dealings with bodies such as Ofcom, the UK Office of Fair Trading, the UK Competition Commission and the European Commission.

Slaughter and May corporate finance partner William Underhill acts for clients on transactions, securities issues and advisory matters. Recent deals he has advised on include Coca-Cola Enterprises merger with Coca-Cola Iberian Partners and US fund manager Fidelity’s buyout of the minority shareholders of listed telecoms provider Colt Group.

The winner of the Best Client Partner award will be announced at the British Legal Awards, hosted by Legal Week next Wednesday (25 November).

For more information about the Legal Week Best Legal Adviser report email [email protected] or call her on +44 020 7316 9864 

 For British Legal Awards booking enquiries call Steve Hands on +44 (0)20 7316 9819   or email [email protected]