Anderson, Mori & Tomotsune, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Nishimura & Asahi are set to fight it out for top honours at the Japanese legal fraternity's night of nights, the ALB Japan Law Awards 2009.
 
Finalists in a total 53 categories between them, including the highly sought-after Japanese Deal Maker and Japanese Deal Firm of the year categories, the country's 'Big-Four' will no doubt dominate the evening.
 
International law firms have faired just as well. Linklaters, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Skadden, Paul Weiss, Sullivan & Cromwell, Morrison & Foerster and Milbank are up for some of the evening's biggest awards, including the International Deal Maker of the Year and International Firm of the Year.
 
Nikko Citigroup, Daiwa Securities SMBC and JP Morgan dominate the finalists for the financial services awards while the coveted Japanese In-House Lawyer of the Year Award will be fought out by Chikaro Momoto of Nikko Citi Holdings, Aaron Eddington from UBS, Sebastian Gruson from Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim and Akiko Yamahara from Nikko Citigroup.
 
A full list of finalists can be found by clicking here. The awards gala will be held on 28 May at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Tokyo. It's not too late to reserve your seats - Click here to be redirected to the bookings page.