The Brief is pleased to announce the finalists of The Brief Middle East Law Awards 2012. The Brief Middle East Law Awards 2012 recognise the excellence and outstanding achievements of the region’s leading law firms and in-house legal teams as well as the top deals and dealmakers.

Andrew Smart, managing director of The Brief said: “We are delighted to recognise the top law firms in the Middle East for their excellence in navigating the evolving legal landscape in the region. The law firms named have continued to show strength and creativity in getting deals done despite an uncertain economic climate.”

Clifford Chance has received a total of 21 nominations, the most among law firms, while HSBC leads the in-house space with 16 nominations. Latham & Watkins has 17 nominations, Allen & Overy 16, and Baker & McKenzie 15. With nine nominations, Al Tamimi & Company is the most prominent regional firm at this year’s awards.

Shaheen Pasha, Middle East regional editor of The Brief said: “For this year’s awards nominations process, we were pleased to introduce a new set of criteria that offered clarity, transparency, and efficiency for the judges. There was a value threshold for deals, team size minimums, new categories, and other criteria that would ensure the best firms and deals alone made the shortlist. We are confident those essential requirements have resulted in our most relevant and accurate roundup of finalists yet.”

Finalist submissions will be sent to an external panel of 29 judges to cast their votes. The winner for each category will then be announced at the end of November 2012. A full list of finalists can be found here.

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