Bristol’s two largest law firms, Osborne Clarke and Burges Salmon, have been recognised in the legal sector’s most prestigious acolades, The Lawyer magazine’s annual awards.
A team from Burges Salmon was named Competition/Regulatory Team of the Year while Osborne Clarke was named TMT (Technology Media and Telecoms) Law Firm of the Year.
The Lawyer Awards recognise ‘innovation, execution and sheer intellectual firepower’ in the profession and are judged by a panel of legal professionals from the corporate sector and the Bar.
The Burges Salmon team received the award in recognition of its work for the Co-operative Group in a successful appeal against the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in 2011.
The joint appeal successfully overturned a decision made in April 2010 to impose record fines totalling £225m on 10 retailers and two manufacturers – including Bristol-based Imperial Tobacco – which the OFT alleged had engaged in anti-competitive conduct relating to the pricing of tobacco products between 2000 and 2003.
The Burges Salmon team was led by head of competition, Laura Claydon who said: “This is a huge accolade for the team who have worked alongside the Co-operative Group since 2005.
“The judgment in December 2011 was vindication not just for our client and the other appellants – but for the appeal itself and the arguments our lawyers had been running throughout the seven year process. We are delighted to receive this award on behalf of the work undertaken for our client.”
The TMT award, the legal industry’s most coveted prize for this sector, awarded to Osborne Clarke for the firm’s work advising mobile operator Everything Everywhere on the development and launch of the UK’s first commercial mobile contactless payment product.
The award also recognised the volume and quality of Osborne Clarke’s TMT work during 2011/12, which made it one of the most active legal advisers to the sector.
Paul Anning, head of Osborne Clarke’s payments team, led the team advising Everything Everywhere. He said: “Winning this award is fantastic recognition for our market-leading Payments team. Everything Everywhere’s innovation is a real market first that allows customers to purchase goods with a swipe of their mobile. However, the simplicity of the product belies the complex legal and commercial issues that sit behind it. Our experience and sector knowledge meant that we were able to give Everything Everywhere the very best support in delivering this project.
“Payments is undergoing a transformation, with mobile and digital technology playing an increasingly key role. OC is uniquely positioned to provide the specialist skills needed to successfully bring this new generation of products to market.”
Mike Turner, head of Osborne Clarke’s Digital Business sector team, added: “Our growing Digital Business team has been incredibly busy over the past year and this award serves as a timely recognition of our expertise in advising clients in the technology, media, telecoms and advertising sectors.”
