The American Lawyer is excited to launch the inaugural Best Corporate Department Awards, a biennial recognition of law firms' corporate and transactional work.

These awards recognize both performance across the entire corporate department as well as four specialty categories for industry-specific work. Nomination criteria and submission forms can be found here. The four specialty categories are for work in health care, tech/telecom, pharma/life sciences and energy.

Like our prestigious Litigation Departments of the Year Awards, this contest is meant to highlight the creative lawyering, deep expertise and important impact corporate lawyers have on their clients and the broader industries they serve. The time period the contest takes into account covers some of the busiest years for dealmaking and corporate governance. The American Lawyer is increasingly focused on coverage of deals and corporate work and these awards are reflective of that renewed focus.