Nominations for the 2009 Awards have been released by Legal Week . Here’s a selection of nominations for what we think are the most interesting categories (there are many, many).

Law Firm of the Year
Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clyde & Co
Kennedys
Norton Rose
Stephenson Harwood

Assistant Solicitor / Associate of the Year
Ben Allgrove (Baker & McKenzie)
Sarah Rushton (Forsters)
Vanessa Wix (Geldards)
Melanie Gavin (Hill Dickinson)
Anna Mills (Lovells)
Emma Osbaldeston (Paul Hastings)

Young In-house Lawyer of the Year
Helen Koerner (BASF)
Toby Hornett (Canon Europe)
Matthew Cavanagh (Christofferson Robb & Co)
Nailesh Rambhai (Coventry Building Society)
Alison Perry (KCOM Group)
Robert Baugh (Ring2)

The winners will be chosen by an independent panel of senior lawyers chaired by former City of London Law Society president and former senior partner of Simmons & Simmons, Bill Knight.

The awards are to be held at a black-tie event on 3 December at Old Billingsgate Market in London. So it’s not just Christmas you’ve got to look forward to.