Saudi Aramco, Dubai Group and Mastercard are among the in-house nominees set to go head-to-head at the third annual Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards this May.

Saudi Aramco legal chief David Kultgen will compete with Dubai Group's Cherine Ghali for the prestigious General Counsel of the Year award, with their respective companies both in the running for Legal Department of the Year alongside Mastercard.

The credit card company is also represented by Lucas Sork in the Legal Counsel of the Year category, alongside in-house lawyers from United Arab Shipping Company, Nokia and Rakbank.

This year there are a record number of nominations for in-house legal teams and GCs, with 23 companies represented across the in-house categories, including multinationals such as Johnson & Johnson and Panasonic.

Tamer Nassar of Baker Hughes, China State Construction Engineering's Mohd Sadique and Stephen Hibbert of Qatar Railways are among the other candidates making up the General Counsel of the Year shortlist.

Meanwhile, Clifford Chance (CC), DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells are among six law firms competing to be dubbed International Law Firm of the Year.

The shortlist for the 14 categories that make up the awards also features regional heavyweight Al Tamimi, which is seeking to win the Middle East Law Firm of the Year category for the third year running.

The awards will take place on 15 May in Dubai and are jointly hosted by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group.

The other practices shortlisted in the International Law Firm of the Year category are Eversheds, Simmons & Simmons and White & Case, while Al Tamimi is vying with Al Ansari Law, Afridi & Angell, Bin Shabib & Associates and Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants to be named Middle East Law Firm of the Year.

The awards ceremony will be introduced by Elias Hayek, president of the Corporate Counsel Middle East Group and vice president, legal, EAME division, of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

Hayek is also chair of the judging panel, which features Afshan Akhtar, general counsel of Aluminium Bahrain, and winner of General Counsel of the Year at last year's awards.

Other judges include Khalid Khan, general counsel of Gulf Investment Corporation, Harold Koster, director of the University of Dubai's recently launched College of Law, and the corporate governance consultant Francois de Montaudouin, former chief executive of the Majid Al Futtaim and Al Rostamani groups.

Al Tamimi demonstrates the strength and breadth of its practice by securing nominations in all six practice area categories, including Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of the Year, in which it is up against a roster of six international firms: Allen & Overy, Dentons, DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, Latham & Watkins and Shearman & Sterling.

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