Bae, Kim & Lee, Kim & Chang and Yulchon are locked in a three-way tie for the 4th annual ALB Korea Law Awards, leading the shortlist of finalists with 14 nominations each (excluding deal categories).

The top three law firms are in a race to be hailed as the Deal Firm of the Year and International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year, in addition to Private Equity Law Firm of the Year, a new category. Top domestic firms Yoon & Yang and Lee & Ko follow close behind with 11 nominations each. 

Covington & Burling are at the forefront of international law firm nominees with four nominations, vying for the popular Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year and Litigation Law Firm of the Year awards. Meanwhile, newcomer Cohen & Gresser as well as DLA Piper and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have three nominations each. 

For the in-house categories, a bevy of new nominations from both domestic and international names have been included this year. The top in-house teams – Hyundai Heavy Industries, Yello Mobile, Morgan Stanley Seoul and PCA Life Insurance Korea – have four nominations each. In-house teams from companies such as Samsung C&T, SeAH Holdings, Cheil Worldwide, IBM Korea and eBay Korea have also joined. 

This year’s awards ceremony will be held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on November 17.