Excellence in Commodities: Legal

Clyde & Co’s Trade & Commodities team has been named the best legal firm in the 2012 Commodity Business Awards.

Clyde & Co commodity partner John Whittaker said: "This award recognises the strength and depth of our expertise in this sector. The commodity markets are, by their very nature, global but fragmented marketplaces which require a 'world view' of legal requirements and practices. A professional commodities team comprising over 40 lawyers in the UK combined with a global network of expertise across our 30 offices gives us a unique offering in this area."

"This has been a busy year for the team in which we have continued to invest in the development of our expertise with new partners in trade finance and commodity disputes and contentious and non-contentious hires in our international offices - in particular in our Asia Pacific teams in Singapore, Hong-Kong, Shanghai and Perth. We have also led the debate around the impact of international trade sanctions and are recognised as the go-to firm for sanctions advice (sanctions.clydeco.com)."

Other highlights for the Clyde & Co team this year have included:

• Supporting our trading clients across the whole supply chain, providing advice on:
• Cross-jurisdictional commodity disputes in oil & gas, soft and hard commodities.
• The acquisition of key assets across the world
• Transport and logistics, with our pre-eminent shipping, aviation and road and rail teams advising clients from source to end user
• Negotiating bespoke trading and processing agreements
• All forms of commodity-related trade finance

Voters in this category overwhelmingly picked Clyde & Co in the face of strong competition. The judging panel were also suitably impressed, rewarding Clyde & Co with the Commodity Business Award for Excellence in Commodities: Legal Practitioners. The award was presented to John Whittaker, Partner, by celebrated British comedian Alun Cochrane.