According to him, “the Awards is a brand new concept in Africa, recognising and honouring excellence in the practice of law across Africa. With an extensive panel of judges made up of individuals and Bar Associations, the Awards is perhaps the most coveted and respected awards for lawyers in Africa”. He further stated that the “awards are based on the opinions of over 5000 senior practitioners spread across Africa, the in-depth research that our team conducted and the assessment of the panel of judges which is independent of the organisers of the event.” Past winners of the awards include, Aluko & Oyebode, Banwo & Ighodalo, G Elias & Co and Templars. International winners of the awards include, AB & David of Ghana and Bowman Gilfillan of South Africa. According to Clement, the awards is open to all lawyers in Africa with categories of every type of practice both in-house and private practice. He added that three new categories have been added for this year’s awards as a result of consultation with stakeholders. The new categories are the Emerging Law Firm of the Year, designed to recognise practices from sole practitioners to 3-partner practices. It is also designed to recognise the up and coming firms, which in most cases (not all), will fall within this category in terms of size. The second is the IP and Technology Firm of the Year, in recognition of the importance of this practice area to the African economy and the great strides that African lawyers have made in the practice area. The last is the Best In-House Team (Public Sector). This award is designed to recognise the excellent work and expertise of public sector lawyers. According to Chief Bayo Ojo SAN, CON former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the chair of the panel of judges, “Law Digest put together this event to identify law firms that have excelled in their various areas of specialities. That is what this is all about. It’s innovative, it’s good; it’s to recognise hard work and diligence in the legal industry” Clement expressed satisfaction that Nigerian firms are competing on an equal footing with their long established counterparts from South Africa and in some cases out-performing them as well. He said that the awards represent a mark of quality which is essential for firms to maintain a competitive edge in a highly competitive market, such as legal services. He hopes that this year’s awards will confirm that the success of Nigerian firms at last year’s awards was not a fluke and Nigerian firms are truly at par with their South African counterparts. To nominate, lawyers are required to complete the online nomination form at www. lawdigestawards.com. The shortlist will be published in June 2016.]]>