The Corporate Lawyer of the Year, Legal Team of the Year, Young Lawyer Achiever of the Year, Government Lawyer of the Year and the winner of the Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility Award will be announced at the ACLA Annual Awards Dinner in Melbourne on 24 November.

Due to the number and quality of submissions - up by 10 per cent - this year the Legal Team of the Year Award has been divided into small team of the year and large team of the year.

In the running to win the Small Legal Team of the Year are Ipswich City Council, The Leasing Centre and Thiess John Holland, while City of Sydney, Incitec Pivot Limited and Fair Work Ombudsman are vying for the title of Large Legal Team of the Year.

The finalists for the Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award are Specsavers' Srechko Kontelj, Westpac's Frances Russell-Matthews, Metcash's Greg Watson and Brian Salter from AMP, while the finalists for the Young Lawyer Achiever of the Year are Evan Holland from SP AusNet and Lisa Chan from Curtin University.

Glenn Owbridge from Australian Government Solicitor and Don Markus from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy are the finalists for the Government Lawyer of the Year Award, while Australian Government Solicitor, the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office and Westpac are in the running for the Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility Award.

Last year's winner of the Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award was Myer general counsel and company secretary Marion Rodwell, while SP AusNet's legal manager Karena Reid took out the Young Lawyer Achiever of the Year Award.

The 2010 Government Lawyer of the Year Award went to Anthony Field from the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, and the Legal Team of the Year Award went to Bupa Australia Group.

Recognised for excellence in corporate social responsibility in 2010 was Suzanne Greenwood from St Vincent's Health and Aged Care.

Tickets to the ACLA Annual Awards Dinner at Melbourne's Regent Theatre are available at www.acla.com.au