Allen & Gledhill won big at the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2016 in Singapore on May 20, scooping up seven gongs including SE Asia Deal Firm of the Year and SE Asia Law Firm of the Year.

Held at the Fullerton Hotel, the 12th edition of the annual event and honoured the region’s best law firms, legal work and lawyers across 36 categories. 

Allen & Gledhill also took home the Banking and Financial Services Law Firm of the Year award to go with four awards in the deals categories. Linklaters was named International Deal Firm of the Year – one of four awards it picked up – while Drew & Napier was hailed as the Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year, continuing an unbroken streak stretching back to the first SE Asia Law Awards.

The Managing Partner of the Year award was a tie between Stephanie Keen of Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee and Philip Jeyaretnam SC of Dentons Rodyk & Davidson, which was formed last year following a merger between global outfit Dentons and Singapore's oldest law firm.

"I'm deeply honoured," said Jeyaretnam. "Five years ago I saw that we needed not just to grow domestically but to reach out regionally and internationally, in order to serve clients better. I'm grateful to my key partners for their wholehearted support in executing on this vision."

"This is a fantastic achievement which is a result of the collective work of the entire firm and the support of our clients," said Keen. "At a time when the legal market continues to go through a period of rapid concentration and change, we remain committed to taking an active role in developing creative solutions for our clients and being innovative in our approach to legal services."

Other firms that bagged four awards or more were Clifford Chance with five – all in deals categories – and WongPartnership, which picked up Corporate Citizenship Law Firm of the Year among its four wins.

In the country-specific categories, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was named India Deal Firm of the Year, while Weerawong, Chinnavat & Peangpanor and Vilaf took home the Thailand Law Firm of the Year award and the Vietnam Law Firm of the Year award, respectively. Vilaf was also among the firms working on the Vinh Tan 1 BOT Power Project, named as Project Finance Deal of the Year.

“We are delighted to be recognised at the ALB Law Awards again,” said Vo Ha Duyen, Vilaf’s chairperson. "We owe these awards to our clients and friends for their loyal support and are committed to continue our strongest dedication to their business and their investment objectives in Vietnam. We are always there for them." 

On the in-house side, Asian Development Bank picked up two awards, including In-house Team of the Year, while Hooi Bien Chua of GlaxoSmithKline Malaysia was named In-house Lawyer of the Year.

The full list of winners can be found here.