We are delighted to announce the launch of research for the IFLR Middle East Awards 2022. To nominate deals, teams, firms and individuals for the awards please use the forms below. All the award categories, along with the criteria, methodology and what we will be looking for, are detailed in the Awards Summary.
Calendar:
Deadline for entries: 30 June 2022
Shortlist publication: 17 August 2022
Event: 12 October 2022
Nomination forms:
Team of the year National law firm of the yearRising Star law firm of the year
Rising star lawyers of the yearManaging Partner of the year
All entries must be uploaded to our PORTAL by June 30 2022. Please get in touch as soon as possible if you wish to participate.
For any questions about the research, please contact Sophie Astles
For queries about business development and commercial opportunities related to the awards, please contact Emily Kyriacou
Last year’s results are free to view: Winners 2021 and Shortlist 2021.
What we look for:
IFLR awards strive to recognise work that improves the cross-border investment environment. To do this, the awards look exclusively legal innovation in cross-border transactions, with judges focused on deals that break new legal ground, set precedents, and bring clarity to, or develop, the legal framework for cross-border corporate finance.
When searching for legal innovation, IFLR will consider new legal structures, deals that address new regulatory frameworks, first-in-kind deals and transactions that adapt existing technology to local markets. The difficulty and intricacy of that innovation is assessed, as well as its likely market impact.
IFLR will be awarding national firms of the year, pro bono and rising star firms of the year, and the most innovative deals and teams in the following categories: debt and equity-linked, equity, M&A, project finance, restructuring and, for the first time, loans.
The awards will also be inviting nominations for a new Net-zero Transition award and a Tech Innovation award. The Net-zero Transition award will recognise a law firm or legal team for its work on innovative initiatives or deals that contribute to net-zero goals, while the Tech Innovation Award will recognise a pioneering legal tech solution.
All deals must have closed between July 1 2021 and June 30 2022 to be included in the research. Deals that have not reached financial close before the end of June 2022 will not be considered. With the exception of the Domestic deal category, deals must also meet the awards’ cross-border criteria. We recommend that firms nominate no more than three deals in any one Deal of the year category, using the forms provided above – we value quality over quantity.
Finally, ESG is important to IFLR and the awards will strive to reward legal innovation that supports high ESG standards across all categories.
Good luck!