IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2021 - Europe, Middle East and Africa

05 May 2021 | by Ben Naylor

Tags: Women Leaders

We are delighted to announce our Europe, Middle East and Africa IFLR1000 Women Leaders for 2021. This year's guide - the fourth edition - is by far the most comprehensive yet, featuring more than 750 lawyers globally, almost double the number of lawyers we ranked last year. It is a privilege to be able recognise the work of all the outstanding lawyers who appear in our guide.

IFLR1000 Women Leaders are the most prominent female lawyers working in the areas of law we research (financial and corporate transactions and contract, licensing and regulatory project work) within their jurisdictions. This is an elite group of lawyers with outstanding reputations within their markets who either have expertise and experience of working on complex deals, or who have risen to hold leadership roles with their firms or their practices. For some individuals both these things are true.

Research methodology

The IFLR1000 undertakes annual research into the lawyers and firms working in our areas of research. IFLR1000's research teams in Hong Kong, London, New York and Sofia analyse thousands of research submissions, conduct thousands of interviews with law firm partners, and survey tens of thousands of clients to determine IFLR1000's Women Leaders. We consider all female lawyers working in our areas of research as Women Leaders but firms that participate in our research (see guidelines) can nominate individuals and individual lawyers can nominate themselves by taking our Lawyer Survey.

Women Leaders 2021 content

Below you will find links to:

Online profiles of our featured Women Leaders
Women Leaders by region and jurisdiction
Analysis pieces covering diversity and inclusion in the legal proffesion
Interviews with high-profile, inspirational female lawyers from across the world focussed around diversity in the legalprofession

If you would like to discuss how we can help you promote you or your firm's achievements, please contact Liam Sharkey: lsharkey@iflr.com

Featured Women Leaders

Catarina Levy Osorio - ALC Advogados, Angola

Catarina Levy Osorio is both a founder and the managing partner of leading Angolan firm ALC Advogados, which is part of Portguese Morais Leitão’s network. In addition to heading the firm, Levy Osorio leads on a high proportion of the firm’s notable corporate and project deals.

Anna-Sophie Noury - Weil Gotshal & Manges, France

Restructuring and insolvency specialist, Anne-Sophie Noury, is a prominent lawyer within her market and practice area. She co-heads Weil Gotshal & Manges’ Paris restructuring group, previously led the same practice area at domestic firm BDGS and is a member of the Women in Restructuring network. Often instructed on high profile deals, she was recently involved in the restructurings of the Bourbon and Sonia Rykiel.

Tara Doyle - Matheson, Ireland

Head of Matheson’s asset management and funds group, Tara Doyle is one of Ireland’s most prominent funds specialists. Formerly chair of the Council of Irish Funds, Doyle now heads the working group for Irish Funds ESG policy. She is recognised for her fund formation and regulatory advice and worked on the first European alternative investment fund.

Julie Murphy-O'Connor - Matheson, Ireland

Co-head of Matheson’s litigation practice, Julie Murphy-O'Connor is recognised by clients as one of Ireland’s most impressive insolvency practitioners, especially regarding her enforcement work. She is regularly involved in complex cross border restructuring and insolvency cases.

Valerie Bisasur - BLC Robert & Associates, Mauritius

BLC Robert & Associates partner Valerie Bisaur is a banking and finance specialist with an impressive recent track record advising lenders including Standard Chartered Bank. Mauritius Commercial Bank, and Agence Française de Développement on locally high-profile loan transactions.

Seyi Bella - Banwo & Ighodalo, Nigeria

A partner in the banking practice of top tier Nigerian firm Banwo & Ighodalo, Seyi Bella has only been a partner since 2018 but has built an impressive track record of secured finance experience and, through it, and an excellent reputation in the market.

Azeezah Muse-Sadiq - Banwo & Ighodalo, Nigeria

Banwo & Ighodalo partner Azeezah Muse-Sadiq has an impressive recent record of leading on high profile deals. The highlights include advising the lenders financing the acquisition of an oil mining lease, working for Ecobank Nigeria on a $400 million refinancing and advising the issuer on the largest corporate bond ever sold by a Nigerian Bank.

Olayemi Anyanechi - Sefton Fross, Nigeria

Managing partner and one the founders of Sefton Fross, Olayemi Anyanechi has an excellent reputation and more than two decades experience. Prior to launching her own firm, she was manging partner at leading Nigerian firm Templars and general counsel at one the country’s largest conglomerates, Sahara Group.

Monia Dobrescu - Muşat & Asociaţii, Romania

A partner at Muşat & Asociaţii for almost a decade, Monia Dobrescu has a broad focus but is especially recognised for her finance advice and real estate work. Her recent experience includes cross border lender-side financing mandates and regulatory work for China Development Bank, PPF banka and EBRD.

Jelena Gazivoda - JPM Janković Popović Mitić, Serbia

A senior partner at Janković Popović Mitić, one of Serbia’s leading firms, Jelena Gazivoda is among the most experienced lawyers in the jurisdiction. Her expertise lies in energy and natural resources project work (she heads the firm’s mining and energy department) and she has worked on some of the most important strategic projects in the region, including TurkStream.

Maja Žgajnar - CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz, Slovenia

CMS partner Maja Žgajnar is a well-known banking and finance and capital markets specialist with more than 20 years’ experience. She has a focus on distressed banking deals and lender side work, and experience advising on loan portfolio sales and real estate and acquisition financing. Her recent work highlights include representing EIB on a cross border financing to Slovenia’s largest telecoms operator.

Itir Ciftci - Yegin Ciftci Attorney Partnership, Turkey

Itir Ciftci leads the corporate practice at Yegin Ciftci Attorney Partnership, Clifford Chance’s local partner in Turkey. One of the most prominent M&A lawyers in the market, she has more than 25 years’ experience and a track record of working on complex cross border transactions.

Samantha Hutchinson - Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, United Kingdom

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft partner Samantha Hutchinson has built a reputation for her fund finance expertise. She has advised on a number of high-value subscription and leveraged deals and has been fairly prolific in the volume of transactions she has helped close.

Sanja Udovicic - Shearman & Sterling, United Kingdom

Shearman & Sterling London partner Sanja Udovicic boasts almost 25 years’ experience with the firm. A project finance specialist, she has expertise advising lenders on energy and natural resources projects. Her recent work highlights feature deals in Africa, Asia-Pacific and South America, advising lenders in relation to the Temane IPP in Mozambique, the Subic Bay Port project in Philippines, and the Acu LNG project in Brazil.

IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2021 - Europe, Middle East and Africa

05 May 2021 | by Ben Naylor

Featured Women Leaders

Articles and interviews

Global

Europe, Middle East and Africa

Women Leaders profiles by jurisdicition

Albania

Angola

Armenia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Burundi

Channel Islands: Guernsey

Channel Islands: Jersey

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Egypt

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Gibraltar

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Isle of Man

Israel

Italy

Jordan

Kenya

Latvia

Lebanon

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Mauritius

Moldova

Montenegro

Mozambique

Netherlands

Nigeria

North Macedonia

Norway

Oman

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Slovak Republic

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Tanzania

Tunisia

Turkey

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

Zambia

Zimbabwe

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IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2019 available to download