Research for the Chambers Europe guide is in full swing.

However, this year’s edition includes a number of interesting new additions which may have gone unnoticed.

Under the leadership of Georgia Brooks, who took over as Europe editor in 2012, there is a push to develop the guide’s regional coverage – notably, several new sections focused on key European city-regions.
 

Barcelona

 
Perhaps the most significant is a new “general business law” ranking for Barcelona in Spain.

The Barcelona section will be sub-divided into corporate, dispute resolution, employment, intellectual property, life sciences, and tax.

Georgia said that the response from law firms and clients had already been positive.

Which isn’t surprising given that Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, and as capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia, has a distinctive economic and political character.

Any law firms with a strong Catalan presence who have yet to register their interest should get their submissions in by May 3 2013.
 

Kosovo

 
May 3 2013 is also the deadline for firms looking to secure a ranking in the directory’s new Kosovo general business law section.

The Republic of Kosovo declared itself an independent state in 2008 after a period of governance by the United Nations following the 1999 Kosovo War.

However, Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s secession and considers it a UN-governed entity within its sovereign territory.
 

Geneva

 
The third new regional section of note is Geneva in Switzerland.  (Lake Geneva pictured)

Although there is no controversy about Geneva’s status within the nation of Switzerland, its relevance as a separate research region is down to the presence of important international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and World Intellectual Property Organization.
 

Practice Coverage

 
More broadly, the Chambers Europe team is this year looking to expand its continental coverage of lawyers and firms active in the energy, life sciences and insurance sectors; plus practitioners focused on restructuring and insolvency.
 

Chambers Europe Awards

 
On a related note, the company’s 2013 Europe Awards are held on Thursday, April 25 2013 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Among the new categories this year is “Finland Firm of the Year”.
 

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Chambers 100 Launch

 
The Chambers 100 is the latest addition to Chambers & Partners’ expanding roster of awards and listings.

So what is it exactly?

According to Chambers:

“It’s a new listing of the UK’s 100 best business lawyers – the crème de la crème – ranked according to their legal capability and the service they provide to their clients. It’s based on the research done by our team of researchers for the Chambers UK guide and on additional research carried out specifically for this listing.”

Although drawn from a wide range of practices, the common thread among the selected lawyers is that they scored highly on qualities valued most beyond sheer legal capability – like industry knowledge and commercial awareness.

More details are available as to the precise methodology, and the full shortlist of 200 lawyers can be seen here.

From the shortlist of 200 lawyers, Chambers will reveal the top 100 soon.

Frank Hemmes is the Chambers contact point for this initiative.