Who won what: revealed 🏆
Yesterday, the Legal Cheek Awards ceremony brought together the legal community to recognise and celebrate the successes of the UK’s top firms and chambers.
This year’s Legal Cheek Awards, headline sponsored by BPP University Law School, was held at the Battlebridge Suite of Kings Place London.
The highly anticipated event drew hundreds of attendees from the UK’s foremost firms and chambers, alongside respected academics and key voices from across the legal profession.
Things kicked off with an enthusiastic game of ‘Higher or Lower,’ led by BPP’s Director of Outreach Jonny Hurst, before the awards officially got underway.
The winners of our firms and chambers awards were determined by the results of our annual trainee and junior lawyer and barrister surveys, which included responses from over 2,000 lawyers across the country.
Our Sixth Formers’ Choice for Solicitor Apprenticeships Award was determined by a survey of registrants for Legal Cheek‘s sixth former virtual event series, where Year 12 and 13 students were asked: ‘Which firm would be your first choice for a solicitor apprenticeship?’
So who won what? Read on to find out…
Best law firm for training 2026: Charles Russell Speechlys
Highly commended: Bristows, Lewis Silkin, Macfarlanes, Marriott Harrison, Mayer Brown, Paul Weiss, Travers Smith, Vinson & Elkins, Wiggin
Best law firm for quality of work 2026: Sullivan & Cromwell
Highly commended: Bristows, Charles Russell Speechlys, Cooley, Harbottle & Lewis, Lewis Silkin, Marriott Harrison, Paul Weiss, Payne Hicks Beach, Wiggin
Best law firm for peer support 2026: Hill Dickinson
Highly commended: Akin, Bates Wells, Charles Russell Speechlys, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Howard Kennedy, Kingsley Napley, Sullivan & Cromwell, Vinson & Elkins, Wiggin
Best law firm for partner approachability 2026: Trowers & Hamlins
Highly commended: Ashfords, Bates Wells, Bristows, Harbottle & Lewis, Haynes Boone, Marriott Harrison, Paul Weiss, Wiggin, Womble Bond Dickinson
Best law firm for work/life balance 2026: Moore Barlow
Highly commended: Bevan Brittan, Birketts, Forsters, Haynes Boone, Maples Teesdale, Mills & Reeve, Russell-Cooke, Stevens & Bolton, Winckworth Sherwood
Best law firm for legal tech 2026: Womble Bond Dickinson
Highly commended: A&O Shearman, Addleshaw Goddard, CMS, Lewis Silkin, Orrick, Shoosmiths, Simmons & Simmons, Taylor Wessing, Travers Smith
Best law firm for perks 2026: White & Case
Highly commended: Cooley, Fried Frank, Harbottle & Lewis, Kirkland & Ellis, Lewis Silkin, Paul Weiss, Sullivan & Cromwell, Taylor Wessing, Travers Smith
Best law firm office 2026: Paul Weiss
Highly commended: Brabners, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Cooley, Debevoise & Plimpton, Dechert, Freshfields, Goodwin, Kingsley Napley, Lewis Silkin
Best law firm for social life 2026: Wedlake Bell
Highly commended: Burges Salmon, DLA Piper, Forsters, Hill Dickinson, Lewis Silkin, Marriott Harrison, Paul Weiss, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Winckworth Sherwood
Best law firm for eco-friendliness 2026: Weightmans
Highly commended: Bates Wells, Brabners, Lewis Silkin, Maples Teesdale, Shakespeare Martineau, Taylor Wessing, TLT, Travers Smith, Womble Bond Dickinson
Best law firm for international secondments 2026: HFW
Highly commended: A&O Shearman, Ashurst, Freshfields, Norton Rose Fulbright, RPC, Slaughter and May, Stephenson Harwood, Weil Gotshal & Manges, White & Case
Best law firm for client secondments 2026: Reed Smith
Highly commended: Accutrainee, Bird & Bird, CMS, Dentons, Foot Anstey, Hogan Lovells, Kennedys, Squire Patton Boggs, TLT
Most admired law firm 2026: Bird & Bird
Highly commended: A&O Shearman, Addleshaw Goddard, Burges Salmon, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Slaughter and May, White & Case
Sixth formers’ choice award for solicitor apprenticeships 2026: Slaughter and May
Highly commended: A&O Shearman, Addleshaw Goddard, Bird & Bird, Freshfields, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Linklaters, Mishcon de Reya, Norton Rose Fulbright, White & Case
The winner of this award is determined by a survey of registrants for Legal Cheek‘s January sixth former virtual event series, where Year 12 and 13 students were asked: ‘Which firm would be your first choice for a solicitor apprenticeship?’
The Legal Cheek firm of the year 2026: Lewis Silkin
Highly commended: Brabners, Burges Salmon, Charles Russell Speechlys, Cooley, Kingsley Napley, Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Weiss, Stevens & Bolton, Womble Bond Dickinson
Campus ambassador of the year 2026: Maxim Samoilenko (University of the West of England)
Highly commended: Alexandra M Shuck (Maynooth University), Charlotte Ambler (University of Edinburgh), Eilish Monaghan (Queen’s University Belfast), Ng Wai Kiu Tiffany (University of Manchester)
Best chambers for training 2026: Twenty Essex
Highly commended: 4 Pump Court, 7KBW, Blackstone Chambers, Erskine Chambers, Falcon Chambers, Francis Taylor Building, Hailsham Chambers, Maitland Chambers, Wilberforce Chambers
Best chambers for quality of work 2026: Blackstone Chambers
Highly commended: 11KBW, 3VB, Erskine Chambers, Essex Court Chambers, Fountain Court Chambers, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers, Kings Chambers, Monckton Chambers, Wilberforce Chambers
Best chambers for colleague supportiveness 2026: Kings Chambers
Highly commended: 1 Crown Office Row, 4 Pump Court, 5 Essex Chambers, Falcon Chambers, Gatehouse Chambers, Henderson Chambers, Landmark Chambers, Maitland Chambers, Wilberforce Chambers
Best chambers for facilities 2026: 7BR
Highly commended: 39 Essex Chambers, 4 New Square Chambers, 42BR Barristers, 5 Essex Chambers, Blackstone Chambers, Francis Taylor Building, Gatehouse Chambers, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers, Twenty Essex
Best chambers for work/life balance 2026: Serle Court
Highly commended: 1 Crown Office Row, Falcon Chambers, Gough Square Chambers, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers, Hailsham Chambers, Maitland Chambers, Selborne Chambers, Twenty Essex, Wilberforce Chambers
Best chambers for social life 2026: Selborne Chambers
Highly commended: 1 Crown Office Row, 4 Pump Court, Blackstone Chambers, Erskine Chambers, Falcon Chambers, Gatehouse Chambers, Gough Square Chambers, Maitland Chambers, Wilberforce Chambers
Best chambers for legal tech 2026: 3VB
Highly commended: 1 Crown Office Row, 39 Essex Chambers, 4 New Square Chambers, 42BR Barristers, Atkin Chambers, Falcon Chambers, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers, Keating Chambers, Monckton Chambers
The Legal Cheek chambers of the year 2026: Falcon Chambers
Highly commended: 1 Crown Office Row, 3VB, 5 Essex Chambers, Blackstone Chambers, Gatehouse Chambers, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers, Maitland Chambers, Twenty Essex, Wilberforce Chambers
Congratulations to this year’s winners!