15 October 2007

Mallesons Stephen Jaques has received the 2007 CFO Magazine Award for Corporate Legal Services Firm of the Year - the only firm to have won the award three times.

In announcing the judges' decision, CFO described Mallesons as "the clear winner" in a year of substantial corporate finance activity and made specific reference to the firm’s Client First and People and Development initiatives. The other finalists were Freehills and Allens.

Chief Executive Partner, Robert Milliner, said Mallesons was delighted to have received the award and that the win reaffirmed the firm’s strategy of creating a measurable service difference for clients.

“Our Client First program was introduced to raise the bar on client service execution in a way that consistently takes account of each client’s needs. We are delighted that the CFO judging panel recognised the outcomes we have achieved in this regard,” Mr Milliner said.

“We are determined to remain focused on service initiatives that will secure high satisfaction levels from our clients,” he said.

Mr Milliner thanked the Mallesons partners, lawyers and support staff for their hard work and commitment.

“This award is an exceptional result for our firm in an increasingly competitive marketplace, but it is not an isolated recognition of our strong performance in 2007.”

Mr Milliner noted that the recently released 2008 edition of IFLR 1000 described Mallesons as having a "monopoly of the market this year, with an exceptionally strong client base across practice areas". This followed Mallesons’ win as the 2007 IFLR Regional Law Firm of the Year for the 4th consecutive year.

The AFR's annual profit survey last month noted: "Mallesons had the biggest improvement of all the firms surveyed over the past year in terms of revenue and profit growth" and that Mallesons had increased its share of work from blue chip clients "as a result of a renewed focus on service delivery".

Mallesons also received the 2007 BRW Client choice Awards for Best Large Law Firm.