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editorial
The Belgian Legal Awards highlight trends
in the legal sector
For the third year in a row, the Legal
Awards ceremony was “sold out”. The
Legal Awards 2008 are an undeniable success.
There are various factors which make this
event such a success.
1. The quality of our official partners and
especially the patronage provided for
the European chapter by the President
of the European Commission, Mr Barroso.
2. The good work provided by our numerous
media partners at both local and international
levels;
3. Our sponsors who truly are committed to
offering the most adequate and up to
date products and services to the legal
industry.
4. The jury of the Legal Awards which is undoubtedly
the most prestigious jury ever
gathered in this country. Our judges provide
this event with great legitimacy.
5. Last but not least, the lawyers and inhouse
counsels who have done a tremendous
job in compiling memos for the
jury with professionalism.
The competition was tight in many categories
and sometimes unbalanced. The
Legal Bailiff can attest that for several
categories, the Category chairman had to
use his casting vote to ensure a decision.
The real winners are the ones who have
been nominated in the different categories.
Being nominated shows that they are a
major player and that one needs to count
with them for this specific area of practice.
Brussels: home of ‘glocalisation’
In recent years, a new concept has appeared.
“Glocal”: the alliance between
“global” and “local”. Brussels is the hub for
“glocalisation” The world’s legal capital reflects
the regional character as well as the
international aspects of the law. The exposure
for the participants is thus even
greater.
One of this year’s objectives was to stress
the “euro” importance of Brussels-Legal.
That is the reason why an award for international
trade and for regulatory have been
added to the competion and anti-trust
award.
Guarantees for the participants
and for the market
Lawyers are a demanding audience. They
have the right to be so. All year long, they
strive to provide precise and rigorous services
to their clients and colleagues. That is
the reason why, the organizers of the Legal
Awards have to perform above average.
In today’s business world, award ceremonies
have become the necessary part of
a professional life. Few events can claim to
offer as many guarantees as the Legal
Awards do:
• A large, diverse and independent panel of
judges
• Ad hoc jury judging in their area of expertise
• A jury changing every year
The Legal Awards in figures
3
• A vast survey conducted among Belgium’s
most representative business organisations
• A demanding process of submission to
enable objective assessment. Judges
stressed that quality of the submissions
was very high and allowed the jury to
make impartial decisions.
• A process supervised by a legal bailiff
A novelty was brought up this year in order
to ensure even more transparency. Although
stricter than for many other equivalent
events, the criteria to award a prize
have been made clearer and more transparent.
Judges were asked to motivate
their decision and vote. Efforts have been
done in communicating (on stage and in
this official magazine) why awards were allocated.
Although a great success, such an event
needs to evolve. There is a range of points
that we would like to improve for next
year’s edition. We will request opinions and
feedbacks from all partners and participants
to keep the event at the top !
We hope to see you on 19th March 2009 for
the fourth Edition.
Laurent Marlière, President
Potential for more than 600 participants at the Ceremony / A jury of 100 proeminent professionals /
More than 200 explanatory memos adressed to the jury / A consolidated amount of 2500
business lawyers involved via their participating law firms / 20 official and media partners /
More than 50 press covers, articles, adds, TV interviewes, radio interviewes at national and
international level / More than 20.000 hits on the official web site