Lifetime Achievement 2012

The Law Society Excellence Awards Lifetime Achievement Award has this year been given to Roger Smith OBE.

Roger is widely known from his work at Justice over the last 11 years, but he has a long and distinguished history of work on behalf of people who find it hard to have their voices heard. His work at two Law Centres, the Child Poverty Action Group and the Legal Action Group, as well as at Justice, has been hugely influential in promoting and protecting disadvantaged people's rights, here and abroad, and ensuring that the rich and powerful do not ignore them.

The legal work Roger is most proud of was the taking and arranging of test cases in the 1980s notably the case of Drake v. Chief Adjudication Officer in the European Court of Justice, which established the principle there could be no discrimination against married women in relation to welfare benefits.

Cases like that transform the landscape of our society, and solicitors like Roger make them happen. Roger is a shining example of all that is best in the profession.