The Law Society Excellence Awards 2008

Principal sponsor

The Law Society Excellence Awards recognise and reward the most outstanding practitioners in the legal professions. New awards for 2008 are open to individuals and teams across the entire legal sector. The principal sponsor for 2008 is Mercedes-Benz.

Some comments from last year's winners and finalists:

'Our staff have pulled together to ensure we offer the South West's premier legal service - this award goes further by placing us at the top of the national league for quality.'

John Westwell, partner, Foot Anstey

'Reaching the finals of this prestigious award is an achievement in itself and really puts us up there with the high achievers nationally.'

Linda Walker, head of legal services, Durham County Council

'The award meant the world to me particularly given the controversy of the cases that were being recognised.  It has been a tremendous support over the months since and I am proud to have the winners' logo on the firm's letterhead.' 

Phil Shiner, Public Interest Lawyers, Birmingham

See all last year's winners

Sponsored by Conveyancing Liability Solutions Ltd.

Open to all in the legal sector.

This award will highlight excellence in client care and innovative approaches to maintaining and developing client-focused services. The judges will look for practices that demonstrate a leading edge commitment to client care and examples of real efforts in going the extra mile for a diverse range of clients.

Sponsored by BT

Open to all in the legal sector.

The most innovative and successful examples of best practice in the promotion of equality and diversity in the solicitors' profession are sought for this award. We are looking for examples of clear benefits to organisations, employees and clients, from embracing equality and diversity policies and practices in the widest sense, to recruiting and retaining the most talented and motivated lawyers.

Sponsored by City AM

Open to all in the legal sector.

To highlight best practice and innovation in social responsibility and community engagement, the judges will look for original ideas and significant outcomes from initiatives across the spectrum, from small-scale community involvement to large-scale pro bono projects.

Sponsored by the Gazette

Open to all in the legal sector.

This award will go to the most innovative, creative and inspiring business development campaign executed by a law firm or in-house legal department. The entry should: identify the objectives; outline campaign elements; explain how the campaign was integrated into the wider marketing and business development of the law firm or in-house legal team; describe the rollout of associated marketing activity; and quantify measurable results.

Sponsored by Lloyds TSB

Open to Lexcel-accredited practices only.

This will reward excellence in practice management and service delivery from practices that have successfully implemented the Lexcel standards. The judges will look for practices that have effectively incorporated the Lexcel framework into their business strategies to drive continuous improvement.

Sponsored by TFB

Open to all in the legal sector.

Entries are sought from innovative teams across the legal services sector who can demonstrate cutting edge business practice and client service. These might include innovative approaches to standardisation or commoditisation, or the creation of new suites of high value-added services or means of delivery to meet client needs.  

Sponsored by UKTI

Open to all in the legal sector.

This award will go to a law firm that can show it has broken new ground in the export of legal services. The entry should demonstrate the strategic nature of the firm's exporting objectives; the active development of new export markets (either geographical or sectoral) which have turned into results impacting on the firm's turnover; and the coherent integration of this export activity into wider business development plans.