Lawyers Weekly called for nominations from lawyers or teams of lawyers in government departments or corporations. Nominees were asked to outline their legal and business contribution to their organisation over the last 12 months, and will be judged on their ability to raise the profile of legal work within their organisation, their contribution to managing risks within their organisation, their contribution to the bottom line, as well as any significant transactions/deals undertaken during the course of the year.

Criteria

• Outline of legal team and brief introduction of organisation;
• List of legal, business and community achievements over the last 12 months, including deals and transactions, internal achievements (such as the implementation of a new system/process) and staffing/resourcing challenges that have been overcome;
• Details of how the success of the team has contributed to managing risks within their organisation and contributing to the bottom line, all while maintaining a strong commitment to legal privilege and ethics.

This year's finalists will present a challenge to the judges, with all teams having had some remarkable achievements in the last 12 months.

AMP legal team

The AMP legal team was instrumental in helping AMP deliver two new and critical business initiatives, including AMP Flexible Super and the implementation of the primary recommendation of the Ripoll inquiry, by engaging and collaborating with many different parts of the business to resolve a myriad of complex regulatory issues.

Future Fund legal department

Key contributions from the Future Fund legal department over the past year have included performing the internal legal role on more than 30 major investment transactions by the board, performing the internal legal role in connection with the ongoing obligations of the board as an investor in connection with existing investments, and coordinating, managing and providing internal legal input to the external legal roles on investment transactions domestically and internationally.

Kraft Foods legal team

Last year's winners, the Kraft Foods legal team, were hard at work finalising the acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft Foods, including the harmonisation of intellectual property, overseeing the relocation and managing the legal risk in the commercial processes.

Laing O’Rourke in-house legal team

The Laing O'Rourke in-house team had a busy year successfully defending the company in two significant matters, one being in the Supreme Court of NSW, and also reacting to the devastating Queensland floods which affected numerous projects and destroyed one of the company's Brisbane-based offices.

Perpetual legal services

For the team at Perpetual Limited, 2010 saw the retirement of the company's managing director and chairman, and the assessment of a takeover approach by KKR to acquire Perpetual's shares. Whilst involved in the complexity that these issues produced, the team continued to push forward with numerous significant transactions.

Telstra in-house legal team

Over the last 12 months, Telstra's in-house team has been heavily involved in lengthy and complex negotiations with the Commonwealth Government in relation to the $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) program. When complete, the NBN will become the single largest infrastructure investment made by an Australian Government.

For full details of the finalists in each category, click on the links below.

• Hays Young Gun of the Year

• Dolman In-House Lawyer or Team Award

• Phoenix Managing Partner of the Year

• Project Futures Dealmaker of the Year

• The College of Law Law Student of the Year

• Toll Practice Manager of the Year

• Philips Box-Breaker of the Year

• LexisNexis Talent Manager of the Year

• The Life Achievement Award

Stay tuned to find out who the winners are - to be announced at a cocktail party held at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, August 4, 2011.