Highly respected leaders in their fields have been enlisted by the Law Society to select the winners and highly commended candidates of the most prestigious awards in the legal calendar.
The Law Society has received hundreds of nominations for the Excellence Awards 2012, following the outstanding success of the Society's awards since their inauguration in 2007. The awards, which take place on 18 October, are open to individuals and teams across the entire legal sector, not just solicitors. The wide range of categories reflects the diverse work of the profession.
Entries will be judged by two specialist judges in each category. The specialist judges include experts in law, business, and social responsibility as well as marketing. They include:
- Adam Sampson, the Legal Ombudsman, and Aman Virk, head of customer relations at West Bromwich Building Society, who will join the panel to select the winner in Excellence in Client Service
- Frances Gibb, legal editor at The Times, and Alexandra Marks, commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Commission, who will judge the award for Solicitor of the Year - Private Practice
- John Pickup, Lexcel chair and Law Society council member, and Chris Marston, head of professional practices at Lloyds TSB, who will decide on the Lexcel Award for Excellence in Practice Management
- Paul Spibey, partner at Mills & Reeve LLP, and Adele Jones, partner at New Law LLP, who will comprise the judging team to select the winner in Excellence in Innovation.
The judging panel for the individual award categories will also include Law Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, vice president Nick Fluck and deputy vice president Andrew Caplen.
The awards reward and promote excellence across the legal profession and celebrate outstanding achievement in areas that are central to the profession today. They will demonstrate that lawyers continue to innovate and to deliver work of the highest quality despite the challenging economic climate.
Awards will also be presented to the individuals judged to have made the greatest personal contributions and positive impact on the perception of the profession, in the categories of Chartered Legal Executive of the Year, Solicitor Advocate of the Year, Junior Lawyer of the Year, Solicitor of the Year - In-house, Solicitor of the Year - Private Practice, and AWS Legal Business Woman of the Year.
The 2012 awards will see the Law Society Gazette's Legal Personality of the Year award feature for the third time. The Law Society Gazette's editorial team will draw up a shortlist of people who have recently made an outstanding public contribution to the legal profession. This will be based on nominations from readers. The winner will be selected by a judging panel chaired by editor-in-chief Paul Rogerson.
Law Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff said,
'The Law Society Excellence Awards are designed to reward the sea of talent that Britain's legal sector has to offer. The various categories highlight the vast range of work undertaken by the profession. These are the most sought-after awards in the legal calendar, bringing recognition for individuals and firms, so it is only fitting that entries will be judged by such high calibre judges.'
View the full list of categories and judges
Ends
Notes to Editors:
The AWS Legal Business Woman of the Year award is run by the Association of Women Solicitors.
The Law Society Gazette Legal Personality of the Year award will be selected by the Gazette editorial team.
For queries contact awards@lawsociety.org.uk
Press contact: Emma Alatalo, The Law Society
+44 (0)20 7316 5592