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- FT Law 50 2009
- Dispute Resolution - non credit crisis 2009
- Energy 2009
- Financial Crisis and the downturn 2009
- Financial Services - Islamic finance 2009
- Financial Services - Islamic finance 2009 (2)
- FT Law 50 2008
- Finance 2008
- Marketing & PR 2008
- Responsible Business 2008
- Technology & Know-How 2008
- Client Service 2008
- Corporate 2008
- Human Resources 2008
All rankings
- FT Law 50 2009
- Billing and fees - litigation financing 2009
- Billing and Fees 2009
- Changing the rules 2009
- Client Service 2009
- Continental European Firms 2009
- Dispute Resolution - credit crisis 2009
- Dispute Resolution - non credit crisis 2009
- Energy 2009
- Financial Crisis and the downturn 2009
- Financial Services - Islamic finance 2009
- Financial Services - Longevity risk and mortgages 2009
- Financial Services 2009
- Fraud 2009
- Government 2009
- In-House Lawyers 2009
- Law firm management 2009
- Resourcing 2009
- US Financial Crisis and the downturn 2009
- FT Law 50 2008
- Finance 2008
- Fraud 2008
- Management 2008
- Marketing & PR 2008
- Publishing 2008
- Real Estate 2008
- Responsible Business 2008
- Technology & Know-How 2008
- Top 10 US Law Firms In Europe For Innovation In Expansion 2008
- Billing and Fees 2008
- Client Service 2008
- Commercial 2008
- Continental European Firms 2008
- Corporate 2008
- Corporate- Europe 2008
- Dispute Resolution 2008
- Diversity 2008
- Human Resources 2008
- In-House Lawyers 2008
- Public-Private Partnership 2008
Herbert SmithFT Law 50 2009
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| 2009 Rank | 13 |
| 2008 Rank | 15 |
| 2009 total score for ALL entries submitted | 148 |
| 2009 score band for ALL entries submitted (/10) | 4 |
| Number of standout entries in FT REPORT | 1 |
| Number of highly commended entries in FT REPORT | 3 |
| Number of commended entries in FT REPORT | 1 |
| 2009: total weighted score for ranked entries in FT REPORT | 11 |
| 2009 Score band for ranked entries in FT REPORT (/10) | 4 |
| 2008: total weighted score for ranked entries in FT REPORT | 15 |
| 2008 score band for ranked entries in FT REPORT (/5) | 2 |
| 2009 Profits per Equity Partner (PEP) (£k) | 862 |
| 2009 Score band for PEP (/5) | 3 |
| Assessment of management commitment and innovation value to firm (/20) | 12 |
| Total Innovation Score in the FTLAW50 (/50) | 25 |
Dispute Resolution - non credit crisis 2009
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award level | Highly commended |
| Innovation | A multi-jurisdictional, precedent setting, billion dollar divorce of two Russian business partners |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Impact | 6 |
| Total | 18 |
| Description | In an emotionally-charged case involving the richest businessman in Russia, the Herbert Smith team unravelled the complexities of Russian law to obtain a three-pronged freezing order and came up with a new argument to outwit abuse of majority shareholders' position |
Energy 2009
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award level | Standout |
| Innovation | Facilitating Electricité de France’s takeover of British Energy |
| Originality | 8 |
| Rationale | 7 |
| Impact | 8 |
| Total | 23 |
| Description | The firm devised a new form of contingent value in its “nuclear power notes”, allowing agreement to be reached when the two sides were conflicted as to the value of the target. This deal will ensure the UK has nuclear power over the next 10 years |
Financial Crisis and the downturn 2009
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award level | Highly commended |
| Innovation | An alternative to administration for JJB Sports |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Impact | 6 |
| Total | 18 |
| Description | Helped convince stakeholders to vote for a company voluntary agreement, resulting in a resounding 99 per cent in favour. The restructuring allowed JJB to continue trading shares and was the first successful CVA for a major company |
Financial Services - Islamic finance 2009
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award level | Highly commended |
| Innovation | Al-Qatrana cement project financing: the first Islamic multi-source financing to benefit from direct Export Credit Agency protection |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Impact | 6 |
| Total | 18 |
| Description | Groundbreaking Shari'a compliant financing covered by both German and the Finnish ECAs. Prior to this, ECA backed financings had been linked to Islamic structures, but this is the first time one has been developed to directly benefit from ECA backing |
Financial Services - Islamic finance 2009 (2)
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award level | Commended |
| Innovation | The first shari'a compliant Leveraged Buy Out, combining senior and mezzanine debt |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Impact | 5 |
| Total | 17 |
| Description | The firm developed a Shari'a compliant structure to source funds from an Islamic private equity house to buy MCAW Group. It involved a package of bespoke intercreditor agreements to surmount the Shari'a exclusion of such debt structures |
FT Law 50 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| 2008 Rank | 15 |
| 2007 Rank | 28 (+13) |
| 2008: Total score for ALL entries submitted | 232 |
| 2008: score band for ALL entries submitted (/10) | 5 |
| Number of standout entries in FT REPORT | 2 |
| Number of highly commended entries in FT REPORT | 1 |
| Number of commended entries in FT REPORT | 5 |
| 2008: total weighted score for ranked entries in FT REPORT | 15 |
| 2008: score band for ranked entries in FT REPORT (/10) | 4 |
| 2007: total weighted score for ranked entries in FT REPORT | 3 |
| 2007: score band for ranked entries in FT REPORT (/5) | 1 |
| 2007: Profits per Equity Partner (PEP) | 1,036 |
| 2007: score band for PEP (/5) | 3 |
| Assessment of management commitment and innovation value to firm (/20) | 9 |
| Total Innovation Score in the FTLAW50 (/50) | 22 |
Finance 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Commended |
| Innovation | Swiss Re restructuring. |
| Originality | 7 |
| Rationale | 5 |
| Impact | 5 |
| Total | 17 |
| Description | Re-registration of the UK non-life carrier as a European company and redomiciling to Luxembourg. |
Marketing & PR 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Highly Commended |
| Innovation | C2SD: joined-up legal advice on legal and regulatory issues relating to climate change. |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Impact | 6 |
| Total | 18 |
| Description | A forum for the firm to bring together all its advice on climate change issues in conjunction with its European law firm partners, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe. Has directly generated work for the firm, enhanced know-how and made the firm more attractive to graduates. |
Responsible Business 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Commended |
| Innovation | King's Cross Business Action Group: encouraging community enterprise at a grass roots level. |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 7 |
| Impact | 5 |
| Total | 18 |
| Description | One of the founder members of the London Group, which works to increase the value of the development for the local community. Long-term commitment to a variety of initiatives. |
Technology & Know-How 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Commended |
| Innovation | Participation in the London Accord: an attempt to give policymakers the benefit of City research into climate change. |
| Originality | 5 |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Impact | 5 |
| Total | 16 |
| Description | An example of the firm contributing its know-how on a subject of vital interest. Twenty lawyers produced a paper for a report on the financial industry's interpretations of climate change. |
Client Service 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Commended |
| Innovation | Influencing regulators: a new approach. |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 7 |
| Impact | 5 |
| Total | 18 |
| Description | A winning combination of the practical and the academic. The firm joined forces with the London School of Economics to publish a paper on the Financial Services Authority's proposed shift to principles-based regulation. |
Corporate 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Standout |
| Innovation | The tri-partite battle for Resolution, the insurance group: an accumulation of micro-legal innovations. |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 7 |
| Impact | 7 |
| Total | 20 |
| Description | An exceptionally turbulent deal saw the firm having to work around the restrictions it had itself devised. Not only did various parties drop in and then out of the frame for Resolution, but the company was turned by the firm from an offeror into an offeree - a first. |
Human Resources 2008
| Rankings at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Award Level | Commended |
| Innovation | Campus Managers: using a student representative to promote the firm all year round. |
| Originality | 6 |
| Rationale | 5 |
| Impact | 6 |
| Total | 17 |
| Description | Campus managers assist the firm's graduate team in planning events and act as a source of information for students on campus. There are 22 campus managers all over the UK. Firm has seen 20 per cent increase in offers to participating universities. |
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