Law firms, corporate legal departments and legal technology companies across Africa are all celebrating this morning with the release of the 2023 African Legal Awards shortlist.

Kenyan powerhouse, ALN Kenya | Anjarwalla & Khanna, is shortlisted in four categories, including African Law Firm of the Year – East Africa and Tax Team of the Year. Fellow ALN member firm Aluko & Oyebode leads the Nigerian pack with a record 16 shortlistings, with their prominent former leader, Gbenga Oyebode, shortlisted alongside the likes of Anuoluwapo Balogun (Olaniwun & Ajayi) and Fred Onuobia (G.Elias) in the Partner of the Year – West Africa category. 

Smaller firms are also well represented on the 2023 shortlist, with three notable South African firms with under two partners – Rupert Candy Attorneys, Lopes Attorneys Inc and WMN Attorneys – all meeting the grade to achieve two shortlistings each.

South Africa’s legal giants certainly have plenty to celebrate too, with Webber Wentzel matching Aluko & Oyebode’s 16 shortlistings, and Bowmans in contention for 13 awards including the much-prized Banking & Finance Team of the Year and Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team of the Year awards. 

In-house legal leaders such as Ashraf Shaaban (National Bank of Egypt), Andrita Maharaj (TMF Group) and Hermien Uys (Vedanta Zinc International) are included in the eight on the General Counsel of the Year shortlist. Large corporates recognised for the sterling work of their legal departments include Takealot Group, PepsiCo South Africa and Standard Chartered Bank.

For the first time, the African Law Firm of the Year award has been separated into seven categories to better reflect the legal excellence on a pan-African basis and ensure fair competition across shortlistings regardless of overall firm size. These new categories are broken down by region (East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa) and by size. This shift has allowed for even more of Africa’s most prominent law firms to be in for a chance of an award win. This group includes firms such as Thiam & Associés (West Africa – Medium Size), Mulenga Mundashi Legal Practitioners (Southern Africa – Medium Size), Dreny & Partners (North Africa)  and TripleOKLaw Advocates (East Africa – Medium Size).

As always, the awards will also feature the release of the Africa Top 50 rankings for calendar year 2022. 

To book your place at this must-attend event, please contact John Radley at +44 (0) 7792 957 693 or email JRadley@alm.com.

For the full awards shortlist please visit the awards website here. 

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