China Law & Practice Awards 2014 Winners: A night of victory
September 19, 2014 | BY
Katherine Jo &Baker & McKenzie and King & Wood Mallesons won the international and China law firms of the year at the CLP Awards ceremony held in Beijing last week
Over 200 leading legal professionals attended the eighth China Law & Practice Awards last Thursday. For the first time, CLP honoured rising stars across multiple practices and included a new deal category – the TMT deal of the year. In-house participation was also at its highest, with Tencent, Coca-Cola and JP Morgan present to receive their team awards.
Zhong Lun performed strongly, winning three deals as well as the firm of the year awards for Banking & Finance, Real Estate & Construction and Trade. King & Wood Mallesons, the star PRC firm of the night, also received the Regulatory & Compliance firm of the year award, a category which CLP extended to domestic firms for the first time this year. Susan Ning was the lawyer of the year for Competition for the second year in a row. Fangda, last year's PRC firm of the year, once again proved its abilities by scooping three winning deals, M&A, Private Equity and Dispute Resolution.
The international firm categories were, as always, highly competitive. Sidley Austin was the only international firm to receive a firm of the year award for more than one category (Dispute Resolution and Life Sciences). Davis Polk and Freshfields also performed well, picking up three deals each and the Capital Markets and M&A team of the year awards respectively. International firm of the year Baker & McKenzie was nominated 15 times and saw veteran employment practitioner Andreas Lauffs win an individual award.
The outstanding achievement award went to Mr Gao Xiqing, for his valuable contribution to the PRC Securities Law and achievements in his career. CLP congratulated and thanked him for guiding the domestic capital markets to where they are today.
THE 2014 WINNERS
Deals of the Year
Debt and Equity-linked:
Greenland Hong Kong's US$700 million bond offering
Commerce & Finance Law Offices
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Linklaters
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Energy & Natural Resources:
Feishang Anthracite Resources' spinoff and listing
Commerce & Finance Law Offices
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Maples & Calder
Sullivan & Cromwell
Equity:
China Cinda Asset Management IPO
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Haiwen & Partners
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
King & Wood Mallesons
Mergers & Acquisitions:
Yue Xiu's acquisition of 75% stake in Chong Hing Bank
Baker & McKenzie
Deacons
Slaughter & May
Sullivan & Cromwell
Zhong Lun Law Firm
China Outbound:
WH Group's acquisition of Smithfield Foods
Allen & Overy
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Maples & Calder
McGuireWoods
Paul Hastings
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Troutman Sanders
Walkers
Private Equity:
Giant Interactive privatisation
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Appleby
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Fangda Partners
Fenwick & West
Grandall Law Firm
Jun He Law Offices
Maples & Calder
O'Melveny & Myers
Shearman & Sterling
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Project Finance:
Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company's refining and ethylene expansion project
Fangda Partners
King & Wood Mallesons
White & Case
Real Estate & Construction:
Greenland Holding Group's acquisition of 60% stake in SPG Land
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kirkland & Ellis
Telecommunications, Media & Technology:
Baidu's acquisition of 91 Wireless
Conyers Dill & Pearman
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Fangda Partners
Han Kun Law Offices
Jingtian & Gongcheng
Maples & Calder
Sidley Austin
Zhong Lun Law Firm
In-house Teams of the Year
Chinese Company: Tencent
International Company: Coca-Cola
Chinese Financial Institution: Ping An Insurance Group
International Investment Bank: JP Morgan
Teams of the Year
Banking & Finance:
PRC Zhong Lun Law Firm
International Allen & Overy
Capital Markets:
PRC Haiwen & Partners
International Davis Polk & Wardwell
M&A:
PRC Fangda Partners
International Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Private Equity:
PRC Fangda Partners
International Weil Gotshal & Manges
Projects, Energy & Infrastructure:
PRC Sunshine Law Firm
International White & Case
Dealmakers of the Year
PRC Liu Dali (Jun He Law Offices)
International David Zhang (Kirkland & Ellis)
Firms of the Year
Competition:
PRC Broad & Bright
International Linklaters
Dispute Resolution:
PRC Fangda Partners
International Sidley Austin
Insurance:
PRC AnJie Law Firm
International Clifford Chance
Intellectual Property:
PRC Chang Tsi & Partners
International Bird & Bird
Labour & Employment:
PRC Jun He Law Offices
International Simmons & Simmons
Life Sciences:
PRC Global Law Office
International Sidley Austin
Real Estate & Construction:
PRC Zhong Lun Law Firm
International Morrison & Foerster
Regulatory & Compliance:
PRC King & Wood Mallesons
International Herbert Smith Freehills
Shipping & Maritime:
PRC Wang Jing & Co
International Holman Fenwick Willan
Tax:
PRC King & Wood Mallesons
International DLA Piper
Telecommunications, Media & Technology:
PRC Han Kun Law Offices
International Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
Trade:
PRC Zhong Lun Law Firm
International Covington & Burling
Offshore: Conyers Dill & Pearman
Hong Kong: Deacons
Japan: Nishimura & Asahi
Korea: Kim & Chang
Taiwan: Lee and Li
Up-and-coming: Broad & Bright
Regional Firms of the Year
Chongqing: Solton & Partners
Guangzhou: Guangda Law Firm
Hangzhou: Zhejiang T&C Law Firm
Nanjing: JC Master Law Offices
Qingdao: Wincon Law Firm
Shenzhen: Jingtian & Gongcheng
Tianjin: Winners Law Firm
Individual Awards
Competition: Susan Ning (King & Wood Mallesons)
Dispute Resolution: Cao Lijun (Zhong Lun Law Firm)
Intellectual Property: Xie Guanbin (Lifang & Partners)
Labour & Employment: Andreas Lauffs (Baker & McKenzie)
Real Estate & Construction: Zhu Maoyuan (Zhong Lun Law Firm)
Tax: Liu Dingfa (Jun He Law Offices)
Rising Star Competition: Bai Yong (Clifford Chance)
Rising Star Dispute Resolution: Liu Yue (Jingtian & Gongcheng)
Rising Star Intellectual Property: Aggie Liu (Rouse)
Rising Star Labour & Employment: Yin Juquan (King & Wood Mallesons)
Rising Star Real Estate & Construction: Wayne Ma (Paul Hastings)
Rising Star Tax: Ron Ma (Jingtian & Gongcheng)
Firms of the Year
PRC Firm of the Year: King & Wood Mallesons
International Firm of the Year: Baker & McKenzie
Outstanding Achievement Award: Gao Xiqing
Thank you to all those who participated in the research process and attended the ceremony. Good luck and we look forward to what's in store for the year ahead.
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