We're opening nominations to our annual Professional Excellence Awards to make sure we get a chance to highlight the great work and achievements across the full breadth of the Texas Lawyer legal community.

ALM will produce a national awards event in which big firms—those with 200 or more lawyers anywhere in the country—will compete against their peers for litigation departments of the year honors. Details about those awards can be found here.

At the local level, Texas Lawyer will recognize litigation teams from midsize and small firms. For the individual awards, however, lawyers from all-sized firms will be considered.

Listed below are the Professional Excellence contests held for Texas Lawyer. The winners will be recognized in the magazine, online and at an event in the fall.

Deadline for all categories has been extended to June 16, 2022.

Litigation Departments of the Year (Small/Midsize)

(Small/Midsize: Texas-based firms up to 199 lawyers), for these categories: General, IP, Products Liability/Mass Torts, Labor and Employment, Insurance, Premises Liability, Energy and Appellate.

If you have any questions, please contact Recognition Desk manager Pearl Wu at [email protected].

Texas Lawyer Professional Excellence—Individual Awards

The following categories for Texas Lawyer Professional Excellence awards are open to lawyers from all sizes of firms and organizations:

Attorney of the Year: This award goes to the lawyer who in 2021 had the biggest impact on the law or the Texas legal community or did the most to advance the cause of justice. (To be sure, some of this work may have originated before 2021 and/or extended into 2022.)

Lifetime Achievement Awards: Please tell us in up to 1,000 words about anyone living who has left a lasting imprint on the Texas legal community. Please include a high-resolution color photo of the nominee, at least 200 dpi.

On the Rise: Please tell us, in up to 1,000 words, about lawyers under the age of 40 (as of the submission deadline) who have wielded influence in their practice areas in Texas and beyond. They should be innovators, developing unique practice niches, amassing robust books of business, demonstrating strong leadership qualities, showing expertise in litigation, in-house or transactional work and committing themselves to pro bono, charitable and professional volunteer work. Nominees must be under the age of 40 as of the submission deadline to be eligible. Please include a high-resolution color photo of the nominee, at least 200 dpi.

Best Mentors: This category is designed to recognize lawyers who have helped less-experienced colleagues become better lawyers. The relationship between mentors and mentees need not be formal. Please tell us in up to 500 words about anyone who meets this (deliberately vague) criterion.

Top Women in IP: Top women in this space and a lifetime-type award to one woman who exemplifies doing "everything her male counterparts do but backwards and in heels." It will be known as the Ginger Rogers Award. Please tell us in up to 1,000 words about anyone who fits this description—making sure to include a link to the nominee's social media address.. Please include a high-resolution color photo of the nominee, at least 200 dpi.

Most-Effective Deal-makers: Again, quantity or dollar volume are not the only criteria. These deal-makers get repeat business for how they achieve their clients' goals so that both sides sign on the dotted lines. Please tell us in up to 1,000 words about anyone who fits this description, using examples from 2021.  Please include a high-resolution color photo of the nominee, at least 200 dpi.

Diversity and Inclusion Champion: This is either a minority who has overcome insurmountable odds to achieve success, or it's a lawyer who's had an outsized influence on inclusivity initiatives to make people of all backgrounds feel welcomed at their firm or organization. Please tell us in up to 500 words about anyone who fits this description, using examples of what they did during 2021. Please include a high-resolution color photo of the nominee, at least 200 dpi.

Texas Lawyer — Awards for Midsize or Small Firms

Texas Lawyer's Litigation Departments of the Year contest has two distinct categories – a contest to award the top department in general litigation, as well as a contest to determine the top specialty practice groups. The competition is open to any law firm with a Texas presence with fewer than 200 attorneys. We are trying to identify and reward powerhouse practices in our area. But we understand that many lawyers and law firms now have regional or national practices. Therefore we would like you to submit matters lead by lawyers from Texas. But those cases need not have been filed or tried in one of our local courts.

Legal Innovators 

Open to Anyone in the Texas Legal Community

This award seeks to honor innovative efforts by individual lawyers and legal professionals. Their innovation could be technology-oriented, but it doesn't have to be. We want to hear about attorneys and legal professionals who have come up with game-changing ideas for their practices or organizations and who were then able to turn that vision into reality. Please submit an essay of up to 500 words describing this person.

In-House Impact

Open to Texas-based Lawyers from Public or Private Companies and Organizations

In-House Impact: This recognizes an in-house lawyer who had a significant accomplishment in 2021. Please submit an essay of up to 500 words that describes the nominee's skills, strategies and results.

Women in Energy 

This award recognizes a Texas in-house woman lawyer in the energy space who had a significant accomplishment in 2021. Please submit an essay of up to 500 words describing the nominee's skills, strategies and results. 

If you have any questions, please contact Recognition Desk manager Pearl Wu at [email protected].