The Westin Shanghai hotel was brimming with hundreds of lawyers on 4 March, as it hosted the long-awaited ALB China Law Awards 2005. It's the one night of the year in China where lawyers get the recognition that they deserve - as well as the chance to party with their peers.

The champagne flowed and the conversation bubbled, with partners, associates and in-house counsel in a convivial mix at the cocktail party prior to the Gala Dinner. Then, at 7pm the doors opened to the Diamond Ballroom and the cream of the Chinese legal community were ushered to their seats.

After a three-course meal and an introduction to the masters of ceremony, Ted Mar and Chen Jie, a hush fell across the ballroom. Those present knew we were down to the serious business of the evening.

ALB China had received 600 nominations in the previous four months and its team of journalists and the judging panel had worked around the clock to bring it all to a head for this night. From those 600 nominations, finalists for each of the 25 categories were chosen, but the final winner was kept a secret right up to the moment the envelope was opened.

At last year's awards, Jun He Law Offices was the overall winner, with the firm sweeping the board to take four winning positions from eight nominations. However, a year on and the firm was neck and neck with King & Wood - as both firms took home four plaques each this year.

For King & Wood, the awards included the prestigious Beijing Law Firm of the Year award. Partner Xhao Xiahong said: "On behalf of the firm, we want to thank ALB, the voters and our clients for recognising the hard work we have put in - and we plan to continue on this path." The firm also took the Insurance, IP and Project Finance awards to complete its quartet of trophies.

Rival firm Jun He Law Offices walked away with the China Law Firm of the Year award - for the second year in a row. Partner David Lui told the ALB team: "We are really honoured to receive this award and would like to thank all the people at ALB, and especially our staff, who worked to get us to this point." The firm also took home trophies for being Employer of Choice, as well as winning the Joint Venture and M&A awards that evening.

Another strong performer at the Gala evening was AllBright Law Offices, which took home three trophies out of 13 nominations, including the Shanghai Law Firm of the Year award. Partner Steve Zhu told the crowd: "This is the second time we've won this award and we are very proud because ALB is neutral and objective. We thank ALB for organising this very successful event, because events such as this help develop the Chinese legal profession." AllBright also placed in the winning position for the IT/Telecoms and Commercial Litigation Awards.

 Wang Jing & Co took the other city law firm award with the trophy for Guangshou Law Firm of the Year. The firm's client services manager, Maarten Roos, said: "We are grateful to the sponsors and the organisers that have put these awards together, and of course that we won. It recognises the efforts of our staff and we hope to do this again next year."