This award recognises the banking and finance team with the strongest performance across lending and financing. It covers acquisition and leveraged finance, syndicated and bilateral lending, structured and trade finance, real estate finance, Islamic finance, and sustainable or green loans. Judges will look for skill in handling Asia-specific issues such as security and enforceability across different legal systems, foreign-exchange and capital controls, Shariah compliance, and multi-jurisdictional lender groups.  

To keep categories distinct: aircraft and ship finance belongs in Transport, project finance in Projects, bond issues in Capital Markets, and fintech work in TMT. 

This award recognises outstanding performance in equity and debt capital markets. It covers IPOs and dual or secondary listings, follow-on offerings, convertible and exchangeable bonds, high-yield and investment-grade bonds, green, social and sustainability-linked bonds, and structured or securitised products. Asian capital markets involve complex listing regimes and cross-listings across Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, India and the US, alongside approvals such as CSRC filings. Judges will look for breadth across equity and debt work as well as standout deals, so a single large IPO will not carry an entry on its own. 

In your entry, please address whether you acted for issuers, underwriters or both, and the balance of equity and debt work.  

This award recognises the most impressive work in data protection and cybersecurity. It covers compliance with regimes such as China's PIPL and data-export rules, India's DPDP Act, Singapore's PDPA, Vietnam's data protection laws and Korea's PIPA, as well as cross-border data transfers, breach response, regulatory enforcement and privacy disputes. Asia has no single data regime, and data-localisation and transfer rules often conflict, so judges will value practical solutions across multiple jurisdictions.  

Standalone privacy work should be entered here rather than in TMT. 

This award recognises exceptional achievement in contentious work: commercial litigation, international and investment-treaty arbitration, and enforcement of awards and judgments.  

Asia's disputes landscape is shaped by its arbitral institutions (SIAC, HKIAC, CIETAC, KCAB, JCAA and others), international commercial courts, and the cross-border enforcement of awards and judgments between Asian jurisdictions. Entries should show the team's skill across these forums.  

Investigations work should be entered in Regulatory & Investigations, insolvency litigation in Restructuring & Insolvency. Individual landmark matters may also be entered in Asia Contentious Matter of the Year. 

In your entry, please address the stakes and outcomes of key matters, the forums involved, and any precedent-setting significance.

This award recognises excellence in employment, labour and workplace law. It covers employment disputes, restructuring and redundancy programmes, workforce aspects of M&A, executive mobility and immigration, workplace investigations, incentive and benefits schemes, and advice on new labour legislation.

Employment boutiques may enter this award or Specialist Firm of the Year.

In your entry, please address multi-jurisdictional coordination and outcomes for employers or employees. 

This award recognises the strongest client work on environmental, social and governance matters. It covers sustainability reporting and disclosure (including ISSB-aligned regimes in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, mainland China and elsewhere), climate and transition-risk advice, green and sustainability-linked transactions, supply-chain and human-rights due diligence, carbon markets, and ESG-related disputes and regulation. 
 
Asia's sustainability rules are being phased in at different speeds, so judges will look for substance over branding and evidence of real impact. Sustainable finance deals may also be entered in Banking & Finance or Capital Markets, but entries here must focus on the ESG elements. 

In your entry, please address the project's scope and goals, measurable outcomes achieved or being achieved, and a written reference from the client. 

This award recognises excellence in intellectual property. It covers patent and trade mark prosecution and portfolio strategy, IP litigation and enforcement (including anti-counterfeiting), licensing and technology transfer, IP in M&A, and trade secrets.
 
The award is open to law firms and to licensed patent and trade mark attorney firms. Specialist IP firms may enter this award or Specialist Firm of the Year.

In your entry, please address enforcement or litigation results and multi-jurisdictional portfolio strategy.

This award recognises excellence in private capital work: private equity buyouts and exits, fund formation, venture capital, secondaries, co-investments and private credit. Teams may focus on fund formation, transactions or both, and will not be judged down for specialising in one side. Judges will look at the sophistication and scale of mandates, innovative structures, institutional client relationships and the team's contribution to the development of private capital markets in Asia. 

Corporate-led strategic deals should be entered in M&A. 

In your entry, please address the client mix (sponsors, LPs, sovereign funds, family offices) and the team's contribution to developing private capital markets in Asia. 

This award recognises excellence in advising high-net-worth individuals, families and family offices. It covers wealth and succession planning, trusts and foundations, family-office establishment, philanthropy, family governance, and contentious trusts and probate.  

Private client boutiques may enter this award or Specialist Firm of the Year. 

Asian family wealth raises distinctive issues, including multi-generational family businesses, cross-border families and assets, forced-heirship and local succession rules, and the growth of Singapore and Hong Kong as family-office hubs, and entries should show how the team handled them. 

In your entry, please address the cross-border complexity of mandates and the quality and continuity of client service. 

This award recognises excellence in projects, energy and infrastructure. It covers project development and finance, public-private partnerships, power and renewables, oil and gas, LNG, mining, data centres, social infrastructure, and construction contracts and disputes.  

Asian projects often involve state-owned counterparties, development finance institutions, export credit agencies, evolving PPP frameworks and the region's energy transition. Entries should show how the team allocated risk and structured financing in that context.  

Renewables projects belong here, while ESG-focused advisory work belongs in ESG.

In your entry, please address project scale and complexity, risk allocation and financing structure, and contribution to regional development or the energy transition.  

This award recognises the corporate team that has delivered the most impressive M&A work in Asia. It covers public M&A (takeovers, schemes of arrangement, mergers of listed companies, privatisations and take-privates, contested bids and shareholder activism) and private M&A (acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and strategic investments).

Sponsor-side private equity deals should be entered in Private Capital.

In your entry, please address how takeover, listing, foreign-investment and antitrust requirements were navigated, and any novel deal structuring.

Regulatory & Investigations Team of the Year  
This award recognises the strongest work on regulatory, enforcement and investigations matters. It covers financial-services regulation, competition and antitrust, anti-bribery and corruption, sanctions and export controls, white-collar crime, internal and cross-border investigations, and compliance programmes.  

Data-protection enforcement should be entered in Data Privacy, and sustainability-disclosure regulation in ESG. 

In your entry, please address the regulators and jurisdictions involved, how competing requirements were managed, and the team's role in shaping regulatory practice.  

This award recognises excellence in restructuring and insolvency. It covers schemes of arrangement and restructuring plans, liquidations and judicial management, cross-border recognition, distressed M&A and investments, and creditor, debtor or bondholder representation.  

Asian restructurings often involve offshore holding structures, onshore assets and parallel proceedings in Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China and the US, with uneven cross-border recognition. Judges will weigh the variety, innovation and difficulty of the work, not deal size alone. 

In your entry, please address how parallel proceedings and recognition were managed, and commercial outcomes for stakeholders. 

This award recognises excellence in technology, media and telecommunications. It covers technology transactions and outsourcing, digital platforms and e-commerce, AI and emerging-technology regulation, fintech and digital assets, telecoms licensing and infrastructure, media and content, and related disputes.  

IP prosecution and enforcement should be entered in Intellectual Property, and standalone privacy work in Data Privacy.

In your entry, please address how the team navigated new or uncertain regulation and its role in Asia's digital economy. 

This award recognises excellence in transport-sector legal work across aviation, shipping, rail, logistics and ports. It covers aircraft and ship finance and leasing, vessel sale and purchase, charterparty and maritime disputes, logistics and supply-chain transactions, and regulatory work for carriers and operators. 
 
Work on transport assets, operators and disputes belongs here, while building or financing infrastructure such as ports, airports and rail lines belongs in Projects. 

This award recognises an Asia-headquartered law firm that has demonstrated outstanding legal expertise, market leadership, client service and institutional achievement. Firms are judged relative to their home market and strategic positioning, not on size, revenue or geographic reach alone. This is the senior firm award for Asian firms. Firms may also enter the relevant regional award, Southeast Asia or North Asia Firm of the Year, with a separate submission.  

The submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm's performance in Asia. Objective data and research that support the entry will be looked on favourably by the judges. 
Please include the following information: 

1. Provide a brief overview of your firm, including its size, history, the size of its office and where it is based in Asia, number of offices in total and key practice areas. 

2. Outline your firm’s strategy: include goals and key milestones. With reference to this strategy, please provide evidence that it is succeeding, including financial data, flagship deals, client wins and other relevant developments eg. partner hires, investment in new technology, client feedback programmes etc. 

3. How is your firm excelling in the fields of employee development and CSR? 
   
   Client references are encouraged.

This award recognises an international law firm whose Asian practice has delivered the strongest overall performance in the eligibility period. For this award, an international firm is one headquartered outside Asia with offices in at least two Asian jurisdictions. Judges will assess the Asia platform as a whole, not the firm's global achievements. Entries should show both cross-border work and genuine in-market capability. 

1. Provide a brief overview of your firm, including its size, history, the size of its office and where it is based in Asia, number of offices in total and key practice areas. 

2. Outline your firm’s strategy: include goals and key milestones. With reference to this strategy, please provide evidence that it is succeeding, including financial data, flagship deals, client wins and other relevant developments eg. partner hires, investment in new technology, client feedback programmes etc. 

3. How is your firm excelling in the fields of employee development and CSR? 
   
   Client references are encouraged.

This award recognises a North Asia-headquartered law firm that has demonstrated outstanding legal expertise, market leadership, client service and institutional achievement. It is open to firms headquartered in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan or South Korea. Firms are judged relative to their home market and strategic positioning, not on size, revenue or geographic reach alone.

The submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm's performance in North Asia. Where relevant, entries should explain the regulatory and market context that demonstrates the significance of the firm’s work, including cross-border, inbound or outbound matters. Objective data and research that support the entry will be looked on favourably by the judges. Please include the following information:

1. Provide a brief overview of your firm, including its size, history, the size and location of its offices in North Asia, number of offices in total and key practice areas.

2. Outline your firm’s strategy: include goals and key milestones. With reference to this strategy, please provide evidence that it is succeeding, including financial data, flagship deals, client wins and other relevant developments e.g. partner hires, investment in new technology, client feedback programmes etc. Where relevant, explain the regulatory or market context that makes your achievements particularly significant.

3. How is your firm excelling in the fields of employee development and CSR?
   
   Client testimonials are encouraged.

Recognises an offshore law firm team that has demonstrated exceptional performance in complex cross-border legal matters involving offshore jurisdictions, including the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda and other international financial centres. Judges will consider legal sophistication, innovation, commercial significance, client outcomes and the team's contribution to significant transactions, disputes, restructurings and other offshore legal matters involving Asia.

1. Provide a brief overview of your firm and its offshore practice, including its size, history, jurisdictions and offices, and key practice areas.
2. Highlight the firm’s most significant offshore matters involving Asia during the eligibility period, including transactions, disputes, restructurings and other relevant work. Explain the firm’s role, the complexity and significance of the matters, and the outcomes achieved for clients.
3. Demonstrate what distinguishes your firm in the offshore market, including evidence of legal innovation, client service, market leadership and other developments that have strengthened the practice.

This award recognises a Southeast Asia-headquartered law firm that has demonstrated outstanding legal expertise, market leadership, client service and institutional achievement. It is open to firms headquartered in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos or Brunei. Firms are judged relative to their home market and strategic positioning, not on size, revenue or geographic reach alone.

The submission should highlight deals, cases, client wins and initiatives that best exemplify the firm's performance in Southeast Asia. Entries should demonstrate depth of local-law capability and, where relevant, the ability to coordinate matters across ASEAN and beyond. Firms may demonstrate leadership across several markets or clear leadership within one. Objective data and research that support the entry will be looked on favourably by the judges. Please include the following information:

1. Provide a brief overview of your firm, including its size, history, the size and location of its offices in Southeast Asia, number of offices in total and key practice areas.

2. Outline your firm’s strategy: include goals and key milestones. With reference to this strategy, please provide evidence that it is succeeding, including financial data, flagship deals, client wins and other relevant developments e.g. partner hires, investment in new technology, client feedback programmes etc. Where relevant, demonstrate the firm’s local-law capabilities and ability to coordinate work across jurisdictions.
    

3. How is your firm excelling in the fields of employee development and CSR?
   
   Client references are encouraged.

This award recognises an independent boutique or specialist law firm that has demonstrated outstanding expertise and achievement in a defined practice area, such as disputes and arbitration, regulatory, investigations, intellectual property, employment, private client, tax or shipping.

To qualify, at least 75% of the firm's fee-earners or revenue must be in one practice area. Full-service firms and their individual practice groups should enter the relevant team award instead.

The submission should highlight the matters, client outcomes and developments that best demonstrate the firm's expertise and standing within its specialism, and what distinguishes it from full-service competitors. Objective data and client evidence that support the entry will be looked on favourably by the judges. Please include the following information:

1. Provide a brief overview of your firm and its specialism, including its size, history, key areas of expertise and evidence that at least 75% of its fee-earners or revenue relates to the specialist practice area.

2. Highlight your firm’s standout matters and client outcomes during the eligibility period, demonstrating the expertise, impact and client service that distinguish the firm within its specialism.

3. Demonstrate your firm’s reputation and standing within its specialist field, including referrals from other law firms, client evidence and relevant examples of growth, innovation or thought leadership.
   
   Client references are encouraged.

his award recognises the most outstanding transaction conducted within a single Asian jurisdiction. It is open to M&A, private equity, capital markets, financing, restructuring and project transactions where the principal legal and commercial issues arose within one jurisdiction. 

Judges will consider legal and commercial complexity, innovation, strategic significance, execution and impact on the relevant market or industry. 

To be eligible, the transaction must be ongoing or have closed in the eligibility period.
Every deal entry must address: 

• A summary of the matter, its parties and its current status, i.e. closed, signed, decided or settled. 

• All law firms involved, their clients and their roles, and your firm's specific contribution. 

• The legal, regulatory and commercial complexity, explained for judges who may not know the jurisdiction. 

• What was novel or precedent-setting. 

• Significance for the market, sector or legal landscape. 

In your entry, please address the domestic regulatory and market issues that made the transaction distinctive, and the significance of the transaction within its jurisdiction. 

This award recognises the most outstanding transaction involving at least two jurisdictions, at least one of them in Asia. It is open to M&A, private equity, capital markets, financing, restructuring and project transactions.  

To be eligible, the transaction must be ongoing or have closed in the eligibility period.  
Every deal entry must address: 

• A summary of the matter, its parties and its current status, i.e. closed, signed, decided or settled. 

• All law firms involved, their clients and their roles, and your firm's specific contribution. 

• The legal, regulatory and commercial complexity, explained for judges who may not know the jurisdiction. 

• What was novel or precedent-setting. 

• Significance for the market, sector or legal landscape. 

In your entry, please address the jurisdictions involved, the approvals obtained, and how advisers across jurisdictions were coordinated. 

This award recognises a landmark litigation, arbitration, investigation or other contentious matter involving Asia that was decided, settled or reached a significant milestone in the eligibility period.  

Many Asian disputes are resolved in confidential arbitration. Entries may be anonymised, but must give judges enough detail on the issues, stakes and outcome to assess the matter, and any information marked confidential will be seen by the judges only.  

Judges will consider strategic significance, novel or precedent-setting outcomes, the stakes for the client, and implications for the law or for business in the region. 

In your entry, please address the forum and governing law, the outcome or milestone reached, and its wider implications. 

This award recognises an individual whose career has made an enduring contribution to the legal profession in Asia, whether in private practice, in-house, the judiciary, academia, arbitration or public service. It is open to nominations.  

Nominees should have at least 25 years in the profession, with a substantial part of their career spent in Asia, and may be in active practice or recently retired.  

Many of the region’s legal markets have been built within a single generation, and judges will look for individuals who shaped that development. 

Unlike other categories, this award covers the nominee's whole career rather than the eligibility period. Nominations must come from a colleague, client, firm or organisation, not from the nominee.  
Your nomination must address: 

• Career overview: the nominee's roles, positions and career milestones.
• Contribution to the legal profession in Asia: landmark work, institution-building, legal reform, or the development of a practice area, legal market or dispute-resolution forum. 
• Leadership and mentorship: the lawyers and leaders the nominee has developed, and their influence on firms, organisations or professional bodies.
• Integrity and wider contribution: ethical standing, pro bono and community work, teaching, writing, and promoting diversity and access to the profession. 

This award recognises the managing partner or chair of an Asia-headquartered law firm whose leadership has transformed or significantly strengthened the firm. Many Asian firms are going through generational succession, institutionalisation, regional expansion or competition from international entrants, and judges will value leadership through these changes. Achievements are judged relative to the firm's market and size. 

Your entry must address: 

• Strategic direction and how it was delivered. 

• Institutional growth and governance, including succession planning. 

• Talent and leadership development. 

• Innovation in how the firm operates and serves clients. 

• The firm's standing in its market under the nominee's leadership. 

• Please provide one written reference from a senior stakeholder (client or internal) in support of the nomination.

This award recognises the Asia regional or country managing partner of an international law firm (headquartered outside Asia) whose leadership has driven the strongest performance in the eligibility period. Leading an international firm in Asia means balancing global strategy with local market realities, regulatory limits on foreign firms, talent competition and diverse client expectations. Judges will look for the nominee's personal leadership and its results, not the firm's achievements alone. 

Your entry must address: 

• Your strategic vision for the Asia practice and how it was executed. 

• Measurable results, e.g. revenue or client growth, key hires, new offices or practices. 

• Talent recruitment, retention and development, and culture and inclusion initiatives. 

• Management through market or regulatory challenges. 

• Please provide one written reference from a senior stakeholder (client or internal) in support of the nomination.

This award recognises emerging in-house legal talent demonstrating exceptional potential, leadership and impact. It is open to lawyers with fewer than 10 years' post-qualification experience, with the majority of that time spent based and working across Asia.  

Successful entries should demonstrate outstanding performance in an in-house role, together with clear evidence of future leadership potential. Entrants may wish to highlight achievements in areas such as legal judgement, innovation, leadership, business impact, ethical stewardship or contribution to the wider community.  

 Your submission must include the following: 

• Describe your current role, level of responsibility and career progression to date . 

• Outline your most significant achievements during the eligibility period. Explain your contribution, the challenges involved and the impact of your work on the organisation, its objectives or stakeholders.  

• Please provide one written reference from a senior stakeholder (client or internal) in support of the nomination.