First Law International Picks Up The Lawyer’s Global Network 2020 Prize

First Law International (FLI) has been named as the Global Network of the Year 2020 at The Lawyer European Awards.

The awards, which are in their 10th year, celebrate excellence across the European legal market and took place on 1st December via a virtual ceremony.

The FLI network, of which Irwin Mitchell is the exclusive UK member and a member of the Advisory Board, was judged to be the most innovative Global Network by a panel of leading Global General Counsel.

Established in 2001, FLI is based in Brussels and is a leading global network of over 85 top-ranked independent national law firms, comprising over 17,000 lawyers.

Commenting on the award, Group’s Founder and CEO, Orlando Casares said: “This is the best proof that FLI is increasingly becoming an alternative to the much more expensive international firms with an integrated structure.”

Irwin Mitchell became the exclusive UK member of FLI in October 2018 as part of its international growth strategy.

Corporate partner and Head of Irwin Mitchell’s International Group, Bryan Bletso, said: 

Expert Opinion

“We are delighted FLI has picked up this award. We have been incredibly impressed with the network since joining two years ago and I believe this award is deserved and recognises their innovative and ground-breaking approach.” Bryan Bletso - Partner

The Financial Times also recently recognised FLI as amongst its highest-ranking Law Firm Networks out of 750 submissions, comprised of 163 law firms and 47 in-house legal teams. They featured the company in their 2019 edition of Innovative Lawyers, celebrating the launch of the ‘Assistant GC’ app as “ahead of the game in terms of originality, leadership and impact."

Chambers & Partners, the organisation that provides quality rankings to international law firms, has also placed FLI at the top of the attorneys’ networks in the world as an Elite Global Network for five consecutive years.