Brodies' corporate & commercial team has been named Legal Advisor of the Year at the prestigious Business Insider Deals & Dealmakers awards.
The awards, held at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow, celebrate the achievements of Scotland's business community and are widely regarded as a highlight of the Scottish corporate calendar.
The Legal Advisor of the Year award, sponsored by the Law Society of Scotland, recognises the skills of lawyers involved in deals, in particular innovation and the ability to resolve complicated issues.
The judging panel of independent experts praised Brodies' corporate & commercial team for having advised on a number of high profile deals during the year, singling out the team's role as legal advisor to Aberdeen City Council on its £370 million landmark index-linked bond issue on the London Stock Exchange - a first for a Scottish local authority.
The judging panel said: "The deal really stood out in this category as a demonstration of the innovative and creative approach Brodies applied to problem-solving to enable clients to deliver their commercial aims."
Brodies' corporate & commercial team, which spans the firm's offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, is now one of the largest in Scotland, having grown by more than 30% over the past three years. In addition, it is ranked top tier in the leading independent legal directories, the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. The team previously won the Legal Advisor of the Year award in 2014.
Other recent deal highlights include:
advising INEOS on a complex corporate group acquisition of onshore oil and gas licences, with both conventional and unconventional activity;
advising long-standing client Scottish Water Business Stream on its successful acquisition of Worthing-based Southern Water's non-domestic business, leading to the creation of the UK's third largest non-domestic water supplier; and
acting as lead advisor for transport company Abellio on its sale of 40% of the Greater Anglia rail franchise to global conglomerate Mitsui & Co. Ltd.
Shuna Stirling, Head of Corporate & Commercial at Brodies, was presented with the award by Graham Matthews, President of the Law Society of Scotland.
Commenting on the accolade, Shuna said: "We're delighted to be named Legal Advisor of the Year, it's an honour to receive this level of recognition from our peers in Scotland's business sector.
"The corporate team at Brodies has grown significantly over the past three years and we've had the opportunity to work on some very exciting, ground-breaking deals over the past 12 months - in particular the Aberdeen City Council index-linked bond issue, which we are confident will set a precedent for other public sector organisations in the future.
"We'd like to extend our thanks to all of our clients, who put their faith in our skills and ability, and of course to our colleagues in other departments at Brodies, whose support has been fundamental in delivering high quality, relevant services to help achieve clients' business ambitions."