The outstanding achievements of the legal profession in England and Wales were celebrated by the Law Society at a prestigious ceremony which took place last night.

BBC Broadcaster Kirsty Wark presented the awards at a black tie dinner and presentation ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London.

The awards rewarded the most outstanding practitioners in the legal professions and were open to the entire legal sector, not just solicitors. Now in their second year, the awards are the most prestigious in the legal calendar and are designed to recognise best practice across the entire legal profession and to celebrate excellence and outstanding achievement in areas that are central to the profession today. They highlight innovative business and quality of life practices, successful approaches to practice management, contributions through social responsibility and equality and diversity initiatives.

The winners

LCS Award for Excellence in Client Service

Winner: PJH Law Solicitors

Highly Commended: Fox Williams

Excellence in Equality & Diversity

Winner: Eversheds

Highly Commended: Interlaw Diversity Project

Excellence in Social Responsibility - Pro Bono

Winner: Watson Farley & Williams – Competition Law Forum

Highly Commended: Lovells

Excellence in Social Responsibility - Community Engagement

Winner: Eversheds

Highly Commended: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Excellence in Marketing & Business Development

Winner: Taylor Wessing

Highly Commended: Walker Morris

Lexcel Award for Excellence in Practice Standards

Winner: The Projects Partnership Limited

Highly Commended: Corby Borough Council Legal Services

Excellence in Pioneering Legal Services

Winner: Pinsent Masons

Highly Commended: Allen & Overy

Excellence in Exporting Legal Services

Winner: Cobbetts LLP

Highly Commended: Walker Morris

Legal Executive of the Year

Winner: Jill Read-Brown

Highly Commended: Donald Winton

Barrister of the Year

Winner: Parosha Chandran

Highly Commended: Richard Lissack QC

Junior Lawyer of the Year

Winner: Gulley Shimeld

Highly Commended: Katherine Craig

Solicitor of the Year

Winner: Saimo Chahal

Highly Commended: Nigel Priestley

Paul Marsh, Law Society president, said:

'Judging these awards was a real privilege and all the short listed entries should be extremely proud of their achievement. These winners have made the promotion of best practice an integral part of their work. These awards are part of the Law Society's commitment to promoting excellence in legal services. Over recent years, the solicitors' profession has taken significant steps in the area of innovation. We hope that these awards, which celebrate the very best in our great profession, will bring benefits for both staff and clients.'

More detail

LCS Award for Excellence in Client Service

This award highlights excellence in client care and innovative approaches to maintaining and developing client-focused services.

Winner: PJH Law Solicitors

In the judges’ view, what set PJH Law Solicitors apart was the extent to which they went the extra mile for their clients.

Examples of their innovative services include client training facilities, online educational tools, and an employment law e-wizard and blog to provide up-to-date information – together with offering an annual retainer with discounted rates.

The extensive feedback surveys showed just how effective this was – a superb example to any firm of how a genuinely proactive approach to client care reaps rewards.

Excellence in Equality & Diversity

This award highlights the most innovative and successful examples of best practice in the promotion of equality and diversity in the solicitors' profession.

Winner: Eversheds

Eversheds stood out in a field of very strong contenders because it was crystal clear from their entry the extent to which they have embraced equality and diversity, and that it is integrated into all that they do.

They’ve established a multi-faith network group and an LGBT group, are engaging with disabled students to consider a career in a major law firm, and have set up a programme of E&D training for all staff – from trainees to partners. A staff member at each of their offices is dedicated to diversity work.

They overhauled their graduate recruitment process, significantly increasing the proportion of ethnic minority trainees and have one of the highest number of female partners of the top 10 firms.

Excellence in Social Responsibility – Pro Bono

The judges looked for innovative approaches that had a measurable impact on the recipients.

Winner: Watson Farley Williams – Competition Law Project

Watson Farley Williams – Competition Law Project caught the judges’ eye for many reasons. It demonstrated how pro bono work helps people in far more ways than most people ever imagine. It successfully helped small businesses, therefore helping local communities all over the country. And it’s been such a success that the firm expect it to be replicated elsewhere in the EU.

Watson Farley Williams – Competition Law Project established a partnership of 38 different service providers offering free competition law advice.

Excellence in Social Responsibility - Community Engagement

The judges looked for entries that were relevant to the community, targeted, engaged, collaborative, measured and evaluated.

Winner: Eversheds

What impressed the judges most about Eversheds was the sheer breadth and depth of their community investment activities.

Whether it was pro bono work, public legal education or non-legal volunteering, training, work placements, fundraising or gifts in kind, their whole program is strategic; delivered measurable results; and got everyone throughout the firm thoroughly engaged and involved.

This provides a huge range of opportunities to develop staff, enabling them to contribute to their local communities. It has also produced long term sustainable partnerships for projects which receive year round support.

Excellence in Marketing & Business Development

This award went to the most innovative, creative and inspiring business development campaign executed by a law firm or in-house legal department.

Winner: Taylor Wessing

The judges were very impressed by Taylor Wessing’s highly innovative approach across the full mix of marketing activities. It was an impressive example of integrated marketing and business development, from initial research through to launch and execution, and the work is already being used to develop new business for the firm.

Taylor Wessing integrated marketing and business development through the launch of a Global Intellectual Property Index, a statistical comparison of intellectual property protection and enforcement across 22 economies.

Lexcel Award for Excellence in Practice Standards

The award celebrates excellence in practice management and service delivery from practices that have successfully implemented the Lexcel standards.

Winner: The Projects Partnership Limited

The Projects Partnership Limited really put the mantra "employees are a business’s most important asset" at the heart of everything they do.

The judges felt their commitment to personnel management in particular was far beyond a mere tick in a box – adopting Lexcel only just after the firm was created, and upgrading to Lexcel Version 4 when it was only optional to do so.

The firm is also unique in one other way in this evening’s awards. The testimonials in their entry included one from a client who said that the firm were so good, they said they actually enjoyed paying the bills!

Excellence in Pioneering Legal Services

This award recognised innovative teams across the legal services sector that have demonstrated cutting edge business practice and client service.

Winner: Pinsent Masons

At a time when firms of all sizes are working out how best to use the internet as a tool, the judges thought Pinsent Masons’ business idea was not only creative and cutting edge but most of all relevant, providing real value for their clients.

Pinsent Masons developed a product that enables HR professionals to keep up with all the developments in employment law through specially produced video and transcripts.

Excellence in Exporting Legal Services

This award recognised firms that demonstrated they have broken new ground in the export of legal services.

Winner: Cobbetts LLP

Cobbetts LLP has demonstrated how a law firm’s entire business can benefit from focussing on export markets. Their entry described a strategic approach to the expansion of alternative investment market financing and the mining sector.

Underpinning the firm’s success has been an emphasis on building strong relationships outside the legal sector, which has in turn helped to market the firm’s expertise alongside their UK offering. The team has a strong client focus and is a good example of cross-sector working.

The judges particularly liked that this entry showed how international work transforms the business of the firm. In this case, Cobbetts have opened a new office in London on the strength of their export services.

Legal Executive of the Year

Winner: Jill Read-Brown

Seeking justice for victims of domestic abuse and violence is not a particularly glamorous area of work. Jill Read-Brown’s commitment really goes above and beyond the call of duty, campaigning tirelessly on behalf of abused women to raise awareness, influence public policy and improve services for victims.

The judges felt that Jill is an absolute credit to the profession, and a truly worthy first ever winner of legal executive of the year.

Barrister of the Year

Winner: Parosha Chandran

Parosha Chandran has acted in precedent-setting human trafficking and immigration cases, and works with a number of NGOs providing support to victims of sex trafficking, forced labour and torture – in addition to giving lectures and providing training.

In what is an under-supported area of law, the judges felt the glowing testimonials in her entry summed up her outstanding commitment and what a remarkable talent she is.

Junior Lawyer of the Year

Winner: Gulley Shimeld

Gulley Shimeld has made an outstanding contribution to the profession through his work as a legal adviser to ParalympicsGB.

The judges were impressed at the sheer scope of his commitment. In addition to a demanding commercial caseload in his day job, he has billed over 300 hours for ParalympicsGB in the last year, and very quickly acquired a wide range of expertise– from commercial agreements to intellectual property issues.

His personal commitment has clearly gone above and beyond expectation: he staffed information stands on weekends and was asked to travel to Beijing to provide on-site advice to the team. He convinced Lovells to adopt ParalympicsGB as their Charity of the Year and put together a global fundraising effort via a dedicated website.

Solicitor of the Year

Winner: Saimo Chahal

Hard-working, tenacious and committed, Saimo Chahal is widely respected and recognised as a leader in her field.

Specialising in mental health and social care law, she works on behalf of vulnerable and disadvantaged clients in difficult and often precedent-setting cases – making national headlines.

The British Institute of Human Rights called her a ‘trail blazer’ for her cutting-edge work and use of the Human Rights Act.

The tremendous recommendations written for her by clients, colleagues, other legal professionals and members of the wider community are a tribute to the outstanding contribution she has made.

Saimo is the head of the civil liberties and social welfare team at Bindmans

Notes to editors:

Photographs and interviews with the winners and the Law Society President are available through the Law Society press office on 020 7320 5902.

Details of the awards and the achievements of the winners and highly commended are also available from the press office

Winners are permitted to use the Excellence Awards logo for one year.

For more information call the Law Society Press Office on 020 7320 5902.