Bermuda-based law firm Appleby has been named "Offshore Law Firm of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards held in London this month.

John Bisson, chairman of Appleby's executive board collected the award on behalf of the firm at an awards ceremony held at Grosvenor House and attended by more than 1,000 top international lawyers.

The award is presented to the firm which has demonstrated superior strategic clarity, technical legal excellence, quality control and growth in market share across the offshore market.

In the past year, Appleby has opened offices in the Seychelles, Bahrain and Guernsey and in 2009, was joined by Isle of Man law firm Dickinson Cruickshank.

In 2009/10 the firm has added five lateral partner appointments, six partner promotions and 11 promotions to Counsel to support growth across the Appleby group. Shaun Morris, managing partner of the Bermuda office, said: "We are very pleased to accept this award. Our strategic goal is to become the world's leading provider of offshore legal and fiduciary services and we are pleased that our efforts have been recognised by our peers with this prestigious award.

"The award underscores our offshore market leading position and the breadth and depth of experience and expertise our practice groups provide."