British Legal Awards have no smoke but lots of fire

Would you be a judge? By that I don’t mean a 'judge' judge but an awards judge. I ask this because we are currently putting together the panel for the British Legal Awards, which this year replace the Legal Week Awards. This is a new experience for us as until now the awards have been based on Legal Week research.

But having set out our stall to establish awards that have a currency that runs well beyond the confines of the legal market, it was incumbent upon us not only to establish an independent judging panel but to make sure it was of the highest calibre.

You can expect top-quality business names on the panel but, responding to feedback from law firms that they valued the focus we put on clients in the Legal Week Awards, the panel will give as much prominence to general counsel as it does commercial decision-makers.

I won’t give the game away by revealing names just yet, but early indications are that the opportunity to pass judgement on the top commercial law firms is proving surprisingly enticing for some business people who have spent much of their working lives – let alone personal ones – dealing with lawyers.

Having decided to have a judging panel, the next question was how to organise the judging process. Understandably, the feedback from one or two people was that the judging should not be too onerous. Nothing wrong with that in principle. After all, when you’re making a business pitch, you may only have a few minutes to make an impression and we’d like the awards to be viewed in these terms. Although entry statements must be a maximum length of 800 words, we are encouraging the use of client references and will accept supporting documents.

We were half-inclined to conduct the equivalent of an online panel review, by conducting the whole process via emails. But several people advised us not to go down this road. It seems part of the attraction of being a judge is the opportunity to do a bit of good old-fashioned networking.

Or, as one correspondent put it: “It is much more interesting and fun when the judges get together and discuss, at least for the final selection. Minds can be changed in discussion.”

So there you have it. At some point towards the end of September a mixture of general counsel, other senior businessmen and women and legal academics and commentators will sit down in the City of London to decide which firms, teams and individuals are to walk away with each of the inaugural British Legal Awards. The only snag is that it is no longer possible to have a smoke-filled room…

For a full list of awards and instructions how to enter visit www.britishlegalawards.com.

john.malpas@legalweek.com