Methodology

Download award category criteria

Criteria for all award categories, including the questionnaire and required supporting information, can be downloaded from the categories page.

Make a nomination

Australia’s legal profession is invited to nominate an individual, team or organisation for the Corporate Counsel Awards.

The opening of nominations is promoted via Lawyers Weekly, with additional marketing distributed through social media, partners, industry stakeholders, online media and other relevant channels. The objective is to encourage broad participation from across Australia’s in-house legal profession.

Nominations can be made directly by an individual or organisation. If you would like to nominate a colleague, peer, in-house legal professional, legal team or other eligible participant for a Corporate Counsel Award, visit the nominations page.

Nominating is easy and takes less than a minute, with nominations across multiple categories able to be completed through one form.

Note: Self-nominating participants who meet the relevant eligibility criteria can move directly from stage 1 to stage 3.

Lodge submission

Nominees are invited to provide a submission for the award categories for which they have been nominated, or for any categories they wish to enter through self-nomination.

Individuals and teams can, where relevant, submit across multiple award categories where they meet the applicable eligibility and category criteria.

Submissions take time and effort. Entrants should allow approximately three to four hours for each submission, although some categories may require additional time. Participants are encouraged to focus on fewer, higher-quality submissions that clearly address the criteria and provide strong supporting evidence.

All submissions are electronic and must be received through our secure awards platform.

The awards platform is safe and secure. It is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), PCI DSS and other applicable standards. Information received through the awards process or portal is used solely for the purpose of administering and assessing submissions and is only shared with judges assessing the relevant award category.

Finalist shortlisting

All submissions undergo an audit process, with eligibility and other relevant information checked against the criteria for each category based on the information provided in the submission.

Eligible submissions are reviewed and assessed by Momentum Media’s events and editorial teams and executives, with relevant industry stakeholders involved where required, to determine the finalists for each category.

The number of finalists may vary between award categories.

Finalists announced

Finalists are contacted directly by the Momentum Media team before being announced publicly via Lawyers Weekly and the Corporate Counsel Awards website.

Finalists will receive access to relevant finalist collateral, including a finalist seal and supporting materials that can be used to promote their achievement across professional networks, websites, social media and other channels.

Submissions judged

Finalist submissions are provided to a panel of respected legal professionals, senior business leaders and other relevant industry experts, who independently assess each submission against the published criteria for the applicable award category.

Judges score each component of the submission against the category criteria. Multiple judges independently assess submissions, producing a blended score and assessment.

The combined judging scores for each submission are then tabulated, with the highest-scoring submission in each category deemed the winner.

Announcement of winners

One winner will be announced for each award category, with winners revealed at the Corporate Counsel Awards.

Full event details are available on the Corporate Counsel Awards website.

For additional information about the methodology, eligibility or submission process, please contact the Corporate Counsel Awards team.