Submission

Submit a Deal for the DOTYs

Please complete the fields below for *each* deal being submitted.

Starting with last year, we introduced a rolling system of CEE Deal of the Year submissions to help firms avoid the stress of end-of-the-year deadlines. The cap of three submissions per firm per jurisdiction remains, so we will reach out at the end of the year to any firms that have submitted more than that and ask them to pick which three of the submitted deals they’d like to put forward.

Important Update From Previous DOTYs

As opposed to previous years, since the 2022 DOTYs, the eligibility of deals will be determined based on the date of closing, not of signing. Only deals that were closed between January 1 and December 31, 2025, will be considered, without exception.

Because of this change, some deals that were submitted for previous editions of the DOTYs might be eligible this year because of their closing, rather than signing date but deals that won a previous edition of the DOTYs are NOT eligible again for the jurisdiction(s) for which it was awarded the DOTY in the past.

Starting this year, we're also asking for client contact information for data validation purposes.

(Please choose one. Separate submissions are required for each country to be considered.)

DO NOT WRITE LAW FIRM X ADVISED ON Y – this is not a press release. Please identify all parties by name – both buyer and seller, or both borrower or lender, for example, where applicable – and the kind of transaction. Do NOT explain the deal here or add information about its size, significance, or impact. If it’s an acquisition or sale, please list the buyer’s name first. Examples might be “Ukraine Eurobond Issue” or “CVC Capital’s Acquisition of Zabka Polska from Mid-Europa.” Please note: Financings are considered part of acquisitions, even if negotiated separately. Firms that worked only on the financing part of the deal should nonetheless identify the deal by the names of the acquiring and selling entities, with an explanation of financing aspects and their role provided separately, below.

Please identify the ONE main lawyer (Partner or not) on your side in charge of the project

Client Info

Clients HAVE to be disclosed. Please do not make a submission stating you advised a "leading [undisclosed] client". IF you were mandated by a different firm (e.g. a global counsel), do NOT list them as the client – rather the actual end client they were representing.

Client's names and contact details will not be shared. This is strictly to be used for submission validation purposes. IF you worked directly for a client, list the relevant contact with the client. IF you were mandated by a different firm (e.g. a global counsel), list the contact details of that mandating firm.

IF you were mandated by a client directly, list their contact email. IF you were mandated by a different firm, list the relevant partner contact. Again, this information is NOT shared and is used strictly for data validation purposes.

ATTENTION – THIS FIELD WAS THE MAIN REASON TO EXCLUDE PAST SUBMISSIONS

Just law firms. NOT individual lawyers, NOT financial advisors. We only want to know which law firms were involved, and for which clients. Where applicable, please include firms advising on financing, even if they did not work on the underlying transaction itself.

  • If you represented a buyer on a transaction, you must identify the advisor of the seller, and vice-versa (e.g., “X advised the seller”)
  • If you represented a borrower on a financing, you must identify the advisor of the lender, and vice-versa (e.g., “X advised the lender”)
  • If you advised only on local aspects of a larger regional or global deal, you must identify the firms acting as global advisors, and vice-versa (e.g., “Firm A acted as the global counsel for party B; Firm C acted as the global counsel for party D”)
  • If the counter-party relied strictly on its in-house team please note that (e.g., “X relied on its in-house team”)
No more than 400 words. Based on past submissions, do NOT simply copy/paste your press release on the deal. Your team's composition on the deal is of little importance. This is where you get to speak to the judges and convince them to vote for this deal. Explain not simply the details of the deal, but summarize media coverage, or give useful additional information like “this was the largest bond issuance in the history of the country.” If it’s not here … the panel may not know about it and this is your opportunity to convince the judges to vote for this deal. Useful information can include deal value and significance to the domestic market and the region as a whole, complexity, the existence of novel or innovative aspects or tools, etc.

If you did not receive our open call for submissions directly but would like to receive future ones and other announcements related to the awards, would you like us to add your email address to our marketeers open call mailing list?

Best Practices

1. Focus on the deal, not your firm

Jurors are asked to rank the deals, not the firms working on them. Too many firms either simply copy/paste their press releases on a deal or waste limited word count on talking up their firm (or listing their lawyers who worked on the matter). Avoid these errors and focus on the significance of the deal itself. 

2. Show, don’t say

Too often, submissions state a deal is “groundbreaking” and involves “leading companies.” Most deals competing will tick off those boxes – that’s why they are put forward. Tell jurors what the complexities of the deal were, what novelties were involved in the deal, and what makes the company(ies) involved “leading” ones, be it its size, revenue, market share, etc. 

Frequently Asked Questions

We strongly encourage you to NOT leave it to the absolute last minute (if you do and there is anything missing the odds of us noticing, flagging it, and you addressing in time are slim, and we’ll have to strike out the submission). That said, for those of you who like to live on the edge: 23:59 PM CET on January 9, 2026 (as long as the time stamp on our server says January 9, you are safe).

We always run a very tight schedule with these submissions (open since September 2025). We’re not able to offer extensions. 

Any firm can submit up to three (3) deals per country, independent of whether they have an office in that jurisdiction or not. 

Yes. Simply fill in the submission form again and change the country for which you’d like the deal to be considered.

No. And do not include confidential matters in the submission form and mark them as “confidential”. Submissions are passed to the jurors (all external to CEELM) as received. 

The precise value of the deal does not need to be included in your submission – see the next Q/A

We ask our jurors to take a holistic look at each deal and consider the deal size/value, its complexity and novelty, its impact on the jurisdiction for which it is considered, and its impact on the wider CEE region. While you may not be able to disclose the specific value, feel free to offer ranges or indicators (e.g., the target was the largest retailer by revenue in Country X). 

No. The only types of matters that CANNOT be considered are disputes. Beyond that, past shortlisted/winning deals have included traditional M&As, financings, refinancings, restructurings, PPPs, infrastructure projects, concessions, IPOs, bond issuances, etc. Ongoing advisory work (e.g., ongoing labor law advice) is not project/transactional in nature, and thus would be unlikely to be considered.

No, it does not.

No. Only deals closed between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, are eligible.