Each year, The Legal Intelligencer's Professional Excellence Awards honor Pennsylvania law firms and attorneys who have made a significant, positive impact on the legal profession. Submissions for our 2022 awards open Jan. 20 and the deadline for submitting will be March 25.

This year's Professional Excellence honorees will be recognized in special editorial sections and virtual awards ceremony in June.

Please see below for guidelines for nominations in each category and CLICK HERE TO ENTER.

This year, all of our awards categories, except for Litigation Departments of the Year and GC Impact, are open to the entire Pennsylvania legal community, including law firms of ANY SIZE. 

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Open to Anyone in the Pennsylvania Legal Community

We're looking for recommendations of attorneys from all corners of the legal profession and the state—not just firm founders—including jurists, office holders and anyone else who has left an imprint on the legal history of the state during their career. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal.

Attorney of the Year

Open to Anyone in the Pennsylvania Legal Community

The Attorney of the Year Award goes to an attorney or judge whose work in 2021 had a distinct impact on the law and the legal profession in Pennsylvania. Our criteria for this award is intentionally broad. The award could go to a trial lawyer who won a big case or a judge who reshaped an area of law with an opinion, or a managing partner or GC who took steps to revolutionize the business of law in Pennsylvania. The attorney's credentials aren't the focus here; we're most interested in what he or she did in 2021 to leave a mark. The Legal's editorial staff will consult with esteemed members of the Pennsylvania legal community to narrow down the nominees to three finalists and pick one winner from those three. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal.

Lawyers on the Fast Track 

Open to Pennsylvania Lawyers Under Age 40 

Each year, we celebrate the next generation of legal leaders by honoring Lawyers on the Fast Track. We need YOU to help us find lawyers deserving of this honor. The nominee must base his or her practice in Pennsylvania, and he or she cannot have received this honor before. Anyone who has a completed nomination form submitted on his or her behalf may be considered for the honor. Completed nomination forms will be evaluated by an impartial judging panel, made up of members of the Pennsylvania legal community. Those nominees receiving the highest composite scores from all the panelists will be our 2022 Lawyers on the Fast Track. To be eligible, entrant needs to be under 40 by the submission deadline March 25, 2022.

Law Firm Innovators 

Open to Law Firms of ANY Size

This award seeks to honor law firms, lawyers and legal professionals who push the envelope to build their businesses. For example, this could be a managing partner who's come up with effective ways to attract, train and retain millennial lawyers; a C-suite professional who's developed innovative alternative fee arrangements to woo clients away from larger competitors; an entire law firm that has embraced technology to become more efficient—the possibilities are endless. Boiled down to its essence, this award seeks to recognize those lawyers, legal professionals and law firms who think outside the box and have demonstrated an ability to distinguish their brands in a crowded market. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal.

Best Law Firm Mentors

Open to Attorneys and Professionals at Law Firms of ANY Size

This award honors those more senior attorneys who have taken it upon themselves to prepare the next generation of legal talent. We are looking for a sage here, someone who has provided valuable knowledge to younger attorneys, paving the way for advancement and stellar contributions to the industry. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal. 

Unsung Heroes

Open to Anyone in the Pennsylvania Legal Community

This award recognizes attorneys and legal professionals who have gone unnoticed for, or were instrumental behind the scenes in, particularly important work. For example, it could be an associate whose work made the difference in a major piece of litigation or a more senior attorney whose presence has had a positive impact on a law firm or organization's culture. The idea is to give due credit to attorneys and legal professionals whose work, while not necessarily flashy, is vital to the success of their firm or organization. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal.

Distinguished Leaders

Open to Anyone in the Pennsylvania Legal Community

This award recognizes lawyers and legal professionals who achieved impressive results in the past year and demonstrated clear leadership skills that helped them achieve those results. That could be a litigation team leader winning a notable case against unfavorable odds, a managing partner who helped the firm achieve notable growth during the past year, a judge who oversaw a large mass tort program, a public interest attorney who helped pass legislation or in-house counsel who revamped the legal department or a C-suite professional who had a major positive impact on their firm's business. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal. 

Power Players

Open to Anyone in the Pennsylvania Legal Community

This award honors attorneys who, through their advocacy, made a significant impact in 2021 on public policy, legislation or jurisprudence in Pennsylvania. As just a few examples, those efforts may include successfully arguing a case at the trial or appellate level that results in a substantive change to public policy, legislation or case law; testifying before a legislative body or filing an influential amicus brief. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal. 

Most-Effective Dealmakers

Open to Attorneys at Law Firms of ANY Size

Quantity or dollar volume are not the only criteria. These dealmakers get repeat business for how they achieve their clients' goals so that both sides sign on the dotted lines. Please submit a 300-to-500-word nomination, focusing on transactions from 2021.

GC Impact

Open to Chief Legal Officers at Pennsylvania-Based Companies

This award recognizes chief legal officers who, through their effective leadership, had significant accomplishments in 2021. As just a few examples, such accomplishments may include growing the legal department's head count or expanding the scope of its duties; significantly reducing legal spend or successfully completing a major undertaking such as a corporate merger or acquisition. We're looking for dynamic leaders who have partnered with their companies and with their outside counsel to find ways to add value and to transform their legal departments from cost centers to business units. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal.

Diversity Initiative

Open to Anyone in the Pennsylvania Legal Community

This award recognizes lawyers and law firms who made a significant contribution to diversity and inclusion efforts in Pennsylvania's legal community in the past year. That could mean a law firm implementing hiring methods aimed at eliminating bias, or bringing in new leaders to help address diversity within the firm or the broader legal community. It could also recognize individual attorneys for their work promoting diversity and inclusions within Pennsylvania's legal ranks. Nomination will require a 300-to-500-word nomination. Full nomination questions will be available on awards portal. 

Litigation Departments of the Year

Open ONLY to Law Firms With Fewer Than 200 Attorneys Firmwide

We will be honoring the top general litigation departments, as well as specialty areas including: Intellectual Property; Products Liability/Mass Torts; Labor and Employment; Insurance; Professional Liability; Class Action; and Appellate Law. The competition is open to small and midsize law firms with a Pennsylvania presence; Pennsylvania lawyers must have had a significant impact on the work being presented, though the work does not need to have been done in Pennsylvania.

Specific and verifiable information is expected whenever possible to help in the decision process. If your client was represented by more than one firm, please specify your firm's role. Try to give as much detail as possible in the brief space allotted as to the firm's specific role in the matter and why it was helpful to the client. Adding color helps paint the picture of why your department stands apart. We would like as much information as possible, even if some is confidential and can't be published. Clearly mark any confidential information, but please do not make the entire submission confidential.

General Litigation Contest

Describe eight to 10 litigation results that demonstrate your department's excellence.

• This list can and should include trial and appellate results and could include pro bono results.
• The results must have occurred between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021.
• Keep descriptions of each individual case under 500 words.
• Each result must have been achieved by lawyers when they were members of your firm. Do not include results achieved by lateral hires when they were working for a different firm. Please highlight work done by Pennsylvania lawyers.
• For each result, please include the names of clients, lead partners and opposing counsel, as well as contact information for all involved whenever possible.
• Descriptions of results should include specific dollar amounts where relevant, but should focus on why the result demonstrates the excellence of your department.

Write an essay explaining why your firm should be a finalist.

• Essay should be no longer than 1,000 words.
• Describe what makes your firm stand out. Did you face specific challenges over the past two years? Did your litigation department have specific goals that it achieved? How is your firm pushing litigation in a new direction?

Please submit additional information on:

• The size of your firm's litigation department (both firmwide and in Pennsylvania) as of Dec. 31, 2021 (please specify number of partners, associates and other).
• The percentage of your entire firm represented by the litigation department in terms of lawyers and in terms of percentage of overall firm revenue.
• Three client references, including phone numbers or email addresses.
• Describe your firm's biggest litigation loss in the past two years, including opposing counsel.
• Briefly describe three upcoming matters for your firm.

Specialty Practice Area Contest

The specialty contest may award departments focused in each of seven areas:

• Intellectual Property
• Products Liability/Mass Torts
• Labor and Employment
• Insurance (subrogation, reinsurance, etc.)
• Professional Liability (medical malpractice, legal malpractice, etc.)
• Class Action
• Appellate Law

You are welcome to compete in more than one specialty category, but separate submissions will be expected for each.

Describe five to seven litigation results that demonstrate your department's excellence in this specialty.

• This list should include both trial and appellate work.
• The results must have occurred between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021.
• Keep descriptions of each individual case under 500 words.
• Each result must have been achieved by lawyers when they were members of your firm. Do not include results achieved by lateral hires when they were working for a different firm. Please highlight work done by Pennsylvania lawyers.
• For each result, please include the names of clients, lead partners and opposing counsel, as well as contact information for all involved whenever possible.
• Descriptions of results should include specific dollar amounts where relevant, but should focus on why the result demonstrates the excellence of your department.

Write an essay explaining why your firm should be a finalist in this specialty area.

• Essay should be no longer than 1,000 words.
• Describe what makes your firm stand out in the given specialty. Did you face specific challenges over the past two years? Did your litigation department have specific goals that it achieved? Why does your firm excel in this specific area?

Please submit additional information on:

• The size of your firm's specialty litigation department as of Dec. 31, 2021 (please specify number of partners, associates and other).
• The percentage of your entire firm represented by the specialty litigation department in terms of lawyers and in terms of percentage of overall firm revenue.
• Three client references, including phone numbers or email addresses.
• Describe your firm's biggest litigation loss in this specialty area over the past two years, with names of opposing counsel.
• A brief description of three upcoming matters for your firm related to this specialty area.

Law Firm of the Year

Open to Law Firms of ANY Size

This award will go to the firm that has the best and most meritorious submissions across multiple categories. The purpose of the award is to recognize the Pennsylvania firm that has demonstrated a broad spectrum of achievements in the past year and talent depth. In order to be considered, firms must enter submissions across multiple categories. At a minimum, firms must submit in the following categories: Lawyers on the Fast Track, Lifetime and/or Best Mentors, Litigation and/or Dealmakers categories.

If you have questions, please contact Recognition Events Desk Manager, Pearl Wu, at [email protected] or 212-457-9646.