Bermuda led the way for legal firms at The Lawyer Awards 2009 in London, with Conyers Dill & Pearman winning the Offshore Law Firm of the Year and Appleby scooping second place.

Conyers received the award at the ceremony held at The Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane last week following a successful year in which it became the first offshore firm to open in Moscow in March 2008 and then set up a base in Mauritius in July, before also becoming the first firm to launch in Brazil, having achieved similar milestones by being the first to open in Hong Kong and Singapore in 1985 and 2001 respectively.

Conyers was also recognised for continuing to build up its litigation expertise, with the recruitment of Nigel Meeson QC to its Cayman Islands office, who has already made a name for himself at the firm, having been instructed to advise on the offshore aspects of the unwinding of Madoff's scam Ponzi Scheme. The Hong Kong office, meanwhile, advised on one of the largest Asian Initial Public Offerings of the year so far, winning an instruction from China Zhongwang Holdings to advise on the Cayman and British Virgin Islands aspects of the listing, the judges noted.

Meanwhile Appleby cemented its place at the top of the offshore hierarchy, revealing a merger with Isle of Man firm Dickinson Cruickshank in recent weeks - a move that shows the forward-thinking nature of the firm and its international management, according to The Lawyer.

Last year, Appleby opened in Dubai and Zurich and, with the addition of the Isle of Man, it will have the widest geographical spread. The judges also acknowledged that group managing partner Peter Bubenzer, who has been with the firm for 29 years, had been a key driver in the firm's expansion and will contribute to its continued success.

Third place went to Ogier out of the seven short-listed firms.