Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has been nominated for two accolades at The British Legal Awards 2023, with the firm shortlisted in the Excellence in ESG and Private Client Team of the Year categories.
Recognised in the Excellence in ESG category is Burges Salmon’s Learning and Development team which alongside the firm’s head of ESG Michael Barlow, developed and rolled out a training programme to support lawyers with having meaningful and impactful ESG conversations with clients. Combining traditional learning techniques, business development skills and a coaching-style approach, the programme has proved ground-breaking in empowering lawyers to engage authentically with their clients around ESG. The programme supports Burges Salmon’s ESG offering, which provides comprehensive, consolidated support to help clients manage ESG risks and realise the opportunities.
The Private Client Team of the Year award recognises the top private client teams in the country, handling high-value work in the areas of estates, charities, family, contentious and non-contentious trusts and probate, as well as personal tax advice, particularly for high-net-worth individuals and families. Burges Salmon’s Private Client practice, which is one of the largest dedicated teams in the UK and is recognised nationally and internationally, has been shortlisted in this category having acted on some of the sector’s highest value and most complicated succession, tax planning and trust restructuring work over the past year.
The team works with a wide variety of clients including entrepreneurs, landowners, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, High Net Worth Individuals, trustees and family offices, both onshore and offshore. It has an expert pool of knowledge, helping its clients mitigate tax, structure their affairs, preserve their property and pass it on to their successors, including advice on divorce and nuptial agreements. The team has extensive experience of cross-border estate and succession planning, international tax and property structuring, and settling family disputes. It also advises global financial institutions on the provision of trust and tax planning services.
This nomination follows the firm’s win earlier this year at the 2023 eprivateclient Excellence Awards, which saw the team receive the coveted Private Client Law Firm (Full Service) award.
Roger Bull, Burges Salmon’s Managing Partner, comments: “We’re thrilled to see our firm once again nominated for two prestigious awards. Our Private Client team has had a very successful year and was recognised earlier this summer for its relentless focus on delivering excellent services to our clients. It’s also very pleasing to see our ESG training programme amongst the projects nominated. The feedback we’ve received from our lawyers has been outstanding and we’ve seen the initiative broaden our people’s understanding of ESG so they can establish what ESG really means for our clients and how we can help them derive real value from it.”
Now in their 14th year, The British Legal Awards are an industry leading celebration highlighting the best law firms, teams and projects in the UK’s legal community. Winners will be announced at a ceremony held in London on 29 November.