Intigral, a leading provider of digital media content services to telecom operators, saw its legal team bag the “Legal Team of the Year” award at the recent Corporate Counsel Middle East (CCME) Awards 2012 in Dubai.

The awards, hosted by Legal Week (organisers of The British Legal Awards) and CCME, were held at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi to mark legal excellence in the Middle East.

The event was co-hosted by Richard Dean, presenter of “Business Tonight” on the Dubai Eye103.8 radio station, in the company of Elias Hayek, president of CCME and vice president, Legal, EAME division, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

Hayek also chaired the judging panel, which was made up of senior in-house lawyers and other leading legal and business figures in the Middle East.

The Legal Team of the Year category saw judges look for evidence of legal expertise, innovation, project management skills, client satisfaction, and in particular, teamwork.

Entries were judged based on how well legal teams exemplified collective performance across the full spectrum of in-house legal responsibilities related to financial, customer, operational and human resource functions.

Intigral’s team was adjudicated as best meeting all criteria, with judges’ feedback indicating that strong feedback as the deciding factor in clinching the award.

“We are very proud of having won the ‘Legal Team of the Year’ Award for year 2012. It hasn’t been an easy journey, given the broad range of functions and diversity of services that we have had to deal with, but it has certainly been rewarding and fulfilling,” said Dr Ismaeel Makdisi, general counsel and VP- Corporate Affairs, Intigral.

“We have a strong and passionate team that is focused on Intigral’s business needs across the entire spectrum of operations, and it was our cohesiveness, teamwork and drive that gave us the win.”

Other legal teams shortlisted for the award included DP World, Marriott Hotels, Msheireb Properties, Qinvest, and Yahoo. The category was open to legal teams and individual lawyers based in the Middle East and operating in the TMT sector.

“Our TMT telecommunications and media technology focus has allowed our legal team to gain experience across a broad spectrum of business operations. Our legal team’s expertise is a core strategic asset for Intigral, and it gives us great satisfaction to see this recognized at the Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards 2012,’’ said Karim Daoud, CEO, Intigral. – TradeArabia News Service