The British publication Chambers honors Rodrigo Uría for his contribution to the world of law

The British publication Chambers & Partners honored Rodrigo Uría in recognition of an “entire life devoted to the world of law”

June 1, 2003

The award was presented in a ceremony that took place on May 22nd in London. The Legal Publishing House enjoys great international prestige, and is a clear reference point for the legal market. During the presentation of the award,  Rodrigo Uría thanked his father, the prominent jurist Rodrigo Uría González, and expressed gratitude for this international recognition of independent law offices.

Rodrigo Uría recebendo o prémio

Also honored in this first awards’ ceremony were important personalities of the legal world who belong to “best friends” offices of Uría & Menéndez -- that is firms with which there is close cooperation. Sergio Erede, of Bonelli Erede Pappalardo; Jean Francois Prat, of Bredin Prat; Prof. Dr. Michael Hoffmann-Becking, of Hengeler Mueller, and Giles Henderson, of Slaughter and May were Uría & Menéndez’ “best friends” who were honored.

Furthermore, the publishing house paid tribute to the renowned lawyer Martin Lipton, of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, known world-wide for his valuable contributions on topics as important as the regulation of takeover bids or corporate governance. Lipton was a pioneer in the legal development of takeover bids and MBOs. He also wrote the first studies on subjects as significant as Corporate Management or Mergers and Acquisitions. Subsequently, Martin Lipton designed important anti-takeover measures such as the poison pill. Likewise, he took part in an important project on corporate governance, whose guidelines have been adopted by a large number of companies.  He currently presides over New York University’s Board of Trustees, among other tasks.

Chambers & Partners is a prestigious legal publishing house that annually prepares publications on the legal market, recognized world-wide by lawyers and their clients. The Publishing House announced the “Lifetime Achievement” awards for the first time to recognize “a life dedicated to law” of important jurists of Europe, the United States, Hong Kong and Australia. In this first celebration, the legal publishing house chose one Spanish lawyer among the honorees, valuing Rodrigo Uría’s contribution to the internationalization of the Spanish legal market.

The publishing house chose the prize-winners for the “Lifetime Achievement” awards through a careful selection process carried out on the basis of the results of its annual ranking of law firms. It also reflected the market’s evaluation on who has importance through a general survey. Ultimately, this sample was narrowed down to around fifty lawyers, who gave their opinions on who leading jurists were, and presented their own professional trajectories.

The reputation for objectivity Chambers & Partners enjoys is due to a large extent to the publication Chambers Global, an annual classification of legal practices in different countries. The publication’s prestige is based on the careful investigation process the publishing house follows to establish the ranking. First, a professional team creates an objective list of firms and recommended lawyers who counsel firms. The goal is to signal the best firms in different areas of specialization. To reach this goal, the team studies specialized publications in all the countries, along with press reports and information sent by the law firms themselves (regarding advice on transactions, clients, etc.) among other things. Second, the members of the Chambers team interview different law firms and their clients (in the last directory the percentages were 72% lawyer interviews and 28% client ones).

These investigations serve as a basis to honor the best firm in each of the areas of Law chosen for this analysis by being deemed most relevant. Uría & Menéndez was nominated this year as the best law firm in Western Europe in the Commercial/Mergers and Acquisitions and Banking/Financing specialties. Moreover, the publishing house has chosen Uría & Menéndez as the best Spanish law firm for three consecutive years.