CATEGORIES & CRITERIA
The Australasian Law Awards 2022 Category Criteria
Deal Awards
- Reached completion during calendar year 2021
- Judged on its Australian aspects according to four criteria - size, complexity, breadth and innovation
- Reached completion during calendar year 2021
- Judged on its Australian aspects according to four criteria - size, complexity, breadth and innovation
- Reached completion during calendar year 2021
- Judged on its Australian aspects according to four criteria - size, complexity, breadth and innovation
- Reached completion during calendar year 2021
- Judged on its Australian aspects according to four criteria - size, complexity, breadth and innovation
- Value AUD50-500m. Reached completion during calendar year 2021.
- Judged on its Australian aspects according to four criteria - size, complexity, breadth and innovation
- Reached completion during calendar year 2021
- Judged on its Australian aspects according to four criteria - size, complexity, breadth and innovation
In-house Awards
- Open to any Australia-based in-house legal team in a banking or financial services company or organisation
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of work during calendar year 2021
Please note, the winner of this category will automatically progress to become a finalist in Australian In-house Team of the Year
- Open to any Australia-based in-house legal team in an insurance company or organisation
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of work during calendar year 2021
Please note, the winner of this category will automatically progress to become a finalist in Australian In-house Team of the Year
- Open to qualified lawyers not exceeding 30 years of age as at 1 January 2021, permanently employed within the in-house legal function of a company or organisation in Australia
- Judged on the quality, quantity, importance and innovativeness of their work during calendar year 2021
- Open to qualified lawyers permanently employed within the in-house legal function of a company or organisation in Australia
- Judged on the quality, quantity, importance and innovativeness of their work during calendar year 2021
- Open to any in-house legal team in a company or organisation operating in Australia
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of their internal and transactional work during calendar year 2021
In-house teams that do not qualify for the market-specific in-house categories (Banking & Financial Services and Insurance) should be nominated in this category. Winners of the market-specific in-house awards will also become finalists in this category. The full list of finalists will be revealed at the awards ceremony.
- Open to any in-house legal team in a company or organisation operating in New Zealand
- Judged on responsiveness, efficiency and excellence of internal legal work during calendar year 2021
Industry Awards
- Open to Resolution Institute-graded arbitrators or qualified members of CiArb
- Judged on his/her achievements and performance during calendar year 2021
Please note any given person should be nominated either for Arbitrator of the Year or Mediator of the Year, not both
- Open to NMAS-accredited mediators
- Judged on his/her achievements and performance during calendar year 2021
Please note any given person should be nominated either for Mediator of the Year or Arbitrator of the Year, not both
- Open to service providers within the legal sector operating in Australia
- Judged on overall customer service proposition; industry’s need for the service; how the service has added value and its overall commitment to customers; demonstrated commitment to innovation and continuous improvement
Please note considerable weight will be placed on nominations that come directly from firms and in-house legal teams
Firm Awards
- Open to law firms based in New Zealand
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of overall firm involvement in major deals during calendar year 2021
- Is permanently employed within a law firm in Australia
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of their deal involvement during calendar year 2021
- Is permanently employed within a law firm in New Zealand
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of their deal involvement during calendar year 2021
- Open to all law firms in Australia and New Zealand
- Judged on the quantity, quality, impact and innovativeness of a firm’s sustainability, community, diversity and inclusion, and corporate social responsibility initiatives during calendar year 2021
- Open to all law firms in Australia and New Zealand
- Judged on the quantity, quality, impact and innovativeness of a firm's employee health and wellbeing initiatives during calendar year 2021
- Open to firms operating in Australia that can demonstrate innovative use of technology in legal service delivery
- Judged on the scope of innovation; impact on the firm’s legal and business processes; success of the change management and implementation process; and evidence the technology has supported business objectives
Please note legal technology providers are not eligible to nominate their own products
- Open to any law firm in Australia that derives at least 50% of its revenue from employment law matters
- Judged on excellence in client service and specialist expertise during calendar year 2021
- Open to any law firm in Australia that derives at least 50% of its revenue from insurance law matters
- Judged on excellence in client service and specialist expertise during calendar year 2021
- Open to any law firm in Australia that derives at least 50% of its revenue from one practice area
- Judged on excellence in client service and specialist expertise during calendar year 2021
Excludes firms that qualify for either of the 'Specialist Firm' categories (Employment Law and Insurance)
- Open to qualified lawyers not exceeding 30 years of age as at 1 January 2021, permanently employed within a law firm in Australia
- Judged on the quantity, quality, importance and innovativeness of their work during calendar year 2021
- Managing partner, CEO or similar of a law firm in Australia with up to 200 employees (or full-time equivalents)
- Judged on his/her achievements and performance during calendar year 2021
- Managing partner, CEO or similar of a law firm in Australia with more than 200 employees (or full-time equivalents)
- Judged on his/her achievements and performance during calendar year 2021
- Open to non-national law firms that are headquartered in and derive the majority of their revenue from a single state or from regional areas (outside of major capital cities)
- Judged on excellence in client service and demonstrated expertise across a range of practice areas
- Open to any law firm in Australia with up to 100 lawyers
- Judged on excellence in client service and demonstrated expertise across a range of practice areas
- Open to any law firm in Australia with over 101 lawyers
- Judged on excellence in client service and demonstrated expertise across a range of practice areas
- Open to any law firm in Australia with over 500 lawyers
- Judged on excellence in client service and demonstrated expertise across a broad range of practice areas and experience acting on the largest, most complex and urgent transactions and disputes
- Open to all AU and NZ-based law firms and law departments
- Judged on the concrete steps the law firm or law department took during 2021 to promote diversity & inclusion in the legal profession