Research for the LMG Life Sciences Awards Europe 2021 has officially commenced. The awards look to recognise leading European law firms and lawyers specialised in the life sciences industry. A virtual awards ceremony will take place in May 2021 to celebrate outstanding legal work over the previous calendar year.
The awards ceremony aims to honour firms and attorneys on the forefront of legal work in life sciences across practice and technology areas. The award’s distinctive structure highlights firms, individuals and notable matters following a comprehensive research process surveying the market each year.
Register today to show your interest in participating.
What do you award?
We award law firms and lawyers working in life sciences and publish the shortlists and winners on our websites and social media.
Research timeline
- RESEARCH LAUNCH – 17 December 2020
- SUBMISSION DEADLINE – 28 January 2021
- RESEARCH INTERVIEWS – February - March 2021
- VIRTUAL AWARDS PRESENTATION – 13 May 2021
How to take part
To take part in our research simply:
- Download our research form
- Complete the form
- Upload it to our online submissions portal or email to john.harrison@legalmediagroup.com
Research period
We will be rewarding legal work in the life sciences that has taken place between 1 January to 31 December 2020.
Why take part?
- Accurate and in-depth representation of your firm’s activities
- Exposure to our global readership including in-house counsel to the industry’s leading development corporations
Ranking criteria
Our law firm rankings are based on three key criteria:
Case evidence
We ask firms to provide recent deal and case highlights and this is used to determine their position in the market.
Firms should provide their most complex and interesting matters in the research form and explain clearly to our research team why they are important and what they tell us about the firm’s abilities.
Client feedback
We speak to a wide range of corporate and in-house contacts to get their opinions on the firms and attorneys they use.
Peer feedback
We engage with lawyers throughout Europe in life sciences legal field and get their opinions on other firms and attorneys that are showing great success in this field of legal practice.
Structure of the Awards
In covering Europe, we focus on the work being completed by firms, individuals, and in-house teams across different practice areas and we shortlist them within focused categories:
- Firm awards – These awards look to recognise the accomplishments of firms in various practice areas, looking at the cases and/or transactions completed from all lawyers in the firm that have worked on behalf of the life sciences industry in the previous calendar year.
- Individual awards – These awards look to recognise the specific accomplishments of leading lawyers for their work in specific practice areas that had been completed in the previous calendar year.
- Rising stars awards – These awards look to recognise the accomplishments of up coming leading lawyers for their work in more open practice area categories that had been completed in the previous calendar year.
- In-house awards – These awards look to recognise the accomplishments of inhouse legal teams and General counsels that operate on behalf of companies, that make up the life sciences industry, from work they completed in the previous calendar year.
- Jurisdiction awards – These awards look to recognise the accomplishments of firms for their accomplishments across the scope of the life sciences legal practices within the jurisdictions that they are based, from work completed in the previous calendar year.
- Impact case awards – These awards look to recognise those firms and inhouse teams that have been involved in the more impactful case decisions and/or transactions within the life sciences industry from the previous calendar year.
You can view the categories by downloading our methodology here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I send information in another format?
Yes, as long as the information we ask for is provided you can submit in any Word or PDF format.
Can I provide the same information that I provided to another publication?
Yes–so long as it relates to your life sciences practice and the information included is what we have asked for.
How much influence do we have over our rating vs. the external market?
Firms are encouraged to tell their story via our research form and through interviews. We then measure the firm’s input against the feedback we receive via studying the market. If our studies are in harmony with the firm’s assertions, we weight them equally. If there is an extreme disparity between the firm’s views and a pronounced percentage of the market, we will provide greater weight to the market consensus.
If we participate, are we guaranteed to get awarded and/or have commentary?
We do not guarantee awards or shortlist rankings.
Should we list confidential cases/clients? How do we ensure these remain confidential?
You can provide confidential clients/cases if you feel we should be aware of these, and we will certainly be respectful of confidential agreements – please mark confidential information clearly, ideally in RED.
When/how do you contact client referees?
We contact all client referees provided to us via email and invite them to take part in an online client survey. The survey asks clients about the firms they use, why they use them, what they use them for and how long they have been using them. The information provided by clients is confidential. Referees may be contacted by email or a telephone call to provide clarification on the submitted deal information.
Do you only award those of partner level for individual awards?
There are rare exceptions where an attorney of counsel or senior associate will be recognised for performing at a partner level.
We’re a small boutique firm – what chance do we stand against the big brand name firms in your rankings?
Because LMG Life Sciences Awards Europe focuses on a number of practice areas within the industry, smaller firms stand a very good chance of being awarded and in some cases, it may be to your betterment.
How do we get an in-person interview?
In-person interviews are welcomed in the London (UK) area. Simply contact us and request one, and, depending on the schedule and flexibility of our researchers, we can arrange one. We also conduct annual visits to various rotating jurisdictions around Europe. In the event that we are visiting your jurisdiction, we would reach out to your firm to invite you to meet.
Due to the current government regulations regarding the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19, we are not presently engaging in in-person interviews. Should guidelines change during the research cycle an update will be provided to ensure those wanting an in-person interview will have the opportunity to request one.
Who are the attendees of LMG Life Sciences Europe?
Those attending our awards night include law firms and in-house counsel.
Is LMG Life Sciences Awards "pay-to-play?" If I don’t support the project financially do I still get shortlisted?
LMG Life Sciences Europe is absolutely not "pay-to-play." Firms cannot pay to receive an award and will only be shortlisted if the market deems them worthy of consideration. Declining to financially support LMG Life Sciences Awards Europe will not in any way affect a firm’s opportunity to receive an award. However, conversely, client firms do enjoy additional benefits such as being able to inform their clients and publish on their own websites and social media that they have been shortlisted and/or have won awards for the work they have done on their client’s behalf.