This award was open to in-house solicitors.
Roger is a hugely experienced commercial real estate solicitor and an inspirational manager. The judges were particularly impressed by his commitment to increasing the amount of legal work undertaken in-house and for his hugely successful sales approach.
The judges were impressed by Geoff's pioneering work in modernising local government legal practice and his work as a consultant advising other local authorities.
Robert's outstanding work includes negotiating a global licence of Ring2's patent-pending call control technology to BT plc for integration with their global conferencing service, a complicated recapitalisation of Ring2 and identifying, evaluating and managing the selection of an Indian law firm to help deal with overseas operations within just three weeks.
Gareth has shown inspirational leadership and devotion to his community. His work on the regeneration of the borough was highly praised by his peers. In just a few months he successfully negotiated the transfer of council housing stock, securing substantial investment into council homes. He negotiated a waste refuse deal that saved the authority £30m.
Shortlisted: Andrew Garard – ITV plc
Andrew has pioneered a different approach to ITV's arrangements with its panel firms. His rationalising of relationships and his review of fee structures, moving from billable hours to the use of fixed fees, has been emulated throughout the industry. He also developed a dramatically different approach to career development through a new Legal Excellence and Responsibility Programme.
Shortlisted: Peter Judge - One North East
Peter was responsible for a number of successful specialist joint ventures designed to boost the regional economy, including the North East Property Partnership and the Business Link in the North East of England. Most notably he was instrumental in making the £125m North East JEREMIE Fund, which invests in regional businesses, a reality.