Herbert Smith Freehills has been named Transatlantic Innovator of the Year for its work acting on the UK's first-ever Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) and International Arbitration Partner Chris Parker was lauded this year's Rising Star Under 40 at The American Lawyer's Transatlantic Legal Awards 2016.
Herbert Smith Freehills has been named Transatlantic Innovator of the Year for its work acting on the UK's first-ever Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) and International Arbitration Partner Chris Parker was lauded this year's Rising Star Under 40 at The American Lawyer's Transatlantic Legal Awards 2016.
At the ceremony in London last night (7 June), the firm was up for three awards: Transatlantic Innovators of the Year; Rising Star; and International Arbitration Partner Christian Leathley was nominated as Transatlantic Arbitrator of the Year for his work successfully representing the Kingdom of Spain in a landmark investment treaty arbitration.
Ranked highly and consistently in industry publications and directories, Chris Parker returned to Herbert Smith Freehills' London team from its New York office in August 2015. During his time in the US office, Chris worked on several New York law seated arbitrations and recently sat as an arbitrator in a New York seated ICC arbitration, governed by New York Law. Many of Chris's arbitrations relate to Africa and he has experience in cases arising from Nigeria, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, Liberia and Zambia.
The firm's Corporate Crime and Investigations (CC&I) team were also recognised as Transatlantic Innovators for their work on the UK's first-ever DPA, which saw the team advise ICBC Standard Bank on its entry into an agreement with the Serious Fraud Office in November last year. The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by Partner Rod Fletcher, with assistance from Senior Associate Ajay Malhotra.
This was a joint entry with Jones Day and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Jones Day acted for Standard Bank Group, the former parent of Standard Bank Plc, and its subsidiaries in relation to the SFO and its internal investigation and DPA negotiation. Herbert Smith Freehills, with assistance from CWT, acted for Standard Bank Plc in relation to the DPA negotiations, the settlement with the SEC and discussions with another US government authority.
The firm has already been named Disputes Team of the Year at The Legal Business Awards 2016 for this case and is shortlisted in The Lawyer Awards in the same category. Winners of The Lawyer Award will be announced in a ceremony in London on 29 June.
Justin D'Agostino, Global Head of Herbert Smith Freehills' Disputes practice, said: "This is fantastic recognition for the innovative and market leading people we have in our global Disputes team and for the cutting edge work we do."
About Herbert Smith Freehills
Operating from over 26 offices across Asia Pacific, EMEA and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice. We provide many of the world’s most important organisations with access to market-leading dispute resolution, projects and transactional legal advice, combined with expertise in a number of global industry sectors, including energy, natural resources, infrastructure and financial services. www.herbertsmithfreehills.com
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