Finalists 2012: Al Tamimi & Company; Allen & Overy; Ashurst; Clyde & Co; Herbert Smith; Shearman & Sterling; Vinson & Elkins

The Government of Dubai's request in November 2009 for a six-month standstill agreement on Dubai World's debt repayments heralded a new phase of the global credit crisis.

Immediately following the announcement, Allen & Overy (A&O) fielded a team of 30 lawyers based in Dubai, London and Hong Kong to advise the creditors on the unfolding crises.

A&O went on to advise the creditors' committees not only on the $14.4bn (£9.3bn) restructuring of Dubai World, but also the $10bn (£6.5bn) restructuring of Nakheel and the $3bn (£1.9bn) restructuring of Dry Docks World.

The magic circle firm needed to provide a round-the-clock legal service to the international constituency of banks that made up the creditors' committees, heralding as they did from the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Because the creditor group was so large and had such a range of priorities, the deal was structured to allow creditors to select one of several tranches of restructured debt to reflect their appetite for risk.

As the deal progressed, it was also necessary to agree terms for the separation of a number of subsidiaries from Dubai World so that they could undergo their own restructurings. This presented the team with several legal challengers as the subsidiaries needed to be ring-fenced from Dubai World in such a way as to allow all the businesses to continue operating without disruption.

The restructuring of Dubai World and its subsidiaries was unprecedented both in terms of their scale and their political and economic significance for the region. They also led to a unique set of legal circumstances, given the fact that Dubai World was owned by a sovereign state with the power to establish the legal framework for the restructuring at the outset of the crisis, and as it developed.

This inevitably put lawyers at the forefront of the process. It also means that the successful agreement of the debt repayments has set the framework for future restructurings in the region for years to come.