Asian Legal Business is pleased to announce that The Macallan will once again be the official event partner for the 16th annual The Macallan ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.

“We are very proud to participate in arguably the Oscar equivalent for the legal industry in Hong Kong,” said Peter Woo, marketing director of Edrington Hong Kong. “The legal profession is highly regarded and highly respected in Hong Kong, and it is an honor to participate in the law awards.”

“The Macallan has been supporting the awards for 14 years, first just as a spirit sponsor, but as we moved on, we were able to have a deeper involvement with ALB and we became the title sponsor,” he said. “We are happy to see an expanded group of people at the awards.”

The Macallan ALB Hong Kong Law Awards 2017 will be held on Friday, Sept. 8 at the Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong to celebrate the achievements of the city’s leading law firms and their lawyers, as well as in-house counsel, with more than 400 expected to attend.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is the frontrunner with a total of 21 nominations, including in the Dealmaker of the Year and the Taylor Root Award for Young Lawyer of the Year categories. Baker McKenzie, Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons have 18 nominations each. They are followed by Davis Polk & Wardwell and Deacons, which each have 16 nods. Linklaters and Mayer Brown JSM – the biggest winner at last year’s awards – have 15 each.

Among the in-house teams, HSBC leads with 10 nominations, including The Macallan Fine Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky Award for Hong Kong In-House Lawyer of the Year. CICC has eight, including the Lewis Sanders Award Investment Banking In-House Team of the Year, and followed closely are CITIC Capital and COSCO Shipping Ports, both with five nominations each.

This year’s event has the highest number of categories yet -- 46 -- including new categories such as Withers Award for Hospitality In-House Team of the Year and Retail and Luxury Brands In-House Team of the Year.

“The awards is expanding and there are more categories, so more lawyers and legal professionals from all areas of the industry can participate, which is great for both the people and the brand,” said Woo. “More people in the legal industry want to be part of the prestigious awards.”

The full list of finalists, as well as more information on seat and table reservation, can be found here.

For further information on this event, the list of finalists or potential attendees, please contact Caryl Aquino at mary.aquino@thomsonreuters.com.