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Nominations are open for the Annual Awards 2024. There are nine categories, for which nominations are invited. Firms and individuals practising in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are invited to submit nominations in one of the nine categories. You are permitted to make as many nominations from within or outside of the firm/organisation.
When making a proposal, please consider the reputation, acumen, professionalism, commitment to clients and others with whom the individual may work, including their involvement in the community.
Other than the Lifetime Achievement Award, particular consideration will be given to the achievements within the last 12 months.
The categories are as follows:
Junior Lawyer of the Year
To be eligible for this award, the person will need to be a solicitor or barrister within 5 years of admission/call, a trainee solicitor, pupil barrister or paralegal. This award will be given to a person who has gone above and beyond the day-to-day expectations of a junior lawyer. The judges are looking for someone who is exceeding expectations as a junior lawyer who has shown that their legal skills and people skills have been ably demonstrated, achieving results for clients. Within the preceding 12 months. They will also be expected to have demonstrably contributed to the success of their firm or been involved in a project, which has made a significant contribution within their organisation. This award is open to all junior lawyers working in Nottinghamshire.
Solicitor of the Year
This award will be given to a solicitor (from 2 years’ post qualification experience, excluding Partners) who has consistently demonstrated outstanding performance in their role as a qualified solicitor. The judges are looking for someone who has shown excellence in their legal work, fostered the development of their colleagues, been involved in the development of initiatives or business projects within their organisation and shown leadership within their organisation or the legal community, within the preceding 12 months. In all cases the judges will expect to see evidence that the individual has successfully taken a leading role rather than merely assisted. This award is opened to all practising solicitors in Nottinghamshire
Partner of the Year
This award will be given to a Partner who has consistently demonstrated outstanding performance in their role. The nomination should include evidence of their involvement in the success of their practice in the last 12 months, both in fee-earning and other areas, such as marketing or setting up new projects which have benefited the firm. They should demonstrate evidence of a growing reputation or maintaining their standing as a leader in their field, shown through their dedication to clients, demonstrable work to help/mentor junior staff as well as work related to contribution to the community, including pro-bono work.
Barrister of the Year
The winner of this category will be a barrister who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution in their field and who continuously strives for and achieves excellence. The judges will expect to the winner to be able to demonstrate a high calibre of work, with examples of the cases that they have undertaken and the particular impact of these cases, either the personal impact on their client and/or to the wider legal profession or public interest. This award is open to all barristers who practice out of a Chambers, organisation or firm based in Nottinghamshire.
Business Support Champion
This award will be given to a person who works within HR, Finance, Compliance, IT, Marketing, Secretarial, Training, Administration or another department providing business support to their organisation. The individual will have helped the firm/organisation to provide the highest quality of service to clients and have demonstrated initiative and excellence to positively impact their firm/organisation.
The winner of this award will demonstrate commitment to their organisation, clients, their staff and their own professional and personal development. This award is open to Business Support staff in the legal profession in Nottinghamshire.
Team of the Year
This award will be given to a team, which has consistently demonstrated outstanding performance. The nomination should include evident of their involvement in the success for their department/organisation in the last 12 months, both fee-earning and other areas, such as marketing or setting up new projects, which has benefitted the firm. The nomination should demonstrate evidence of a growing reputation or maintaining their standing as a leader in their field, their dedication to clients the value added to the business or organisation and/or contribution to the legal community, including pro-bono work.
Community Champion
This award is to recognise an individual, who has demonstrated a significant contribution to the greater community legal service by pro-bono work, charity work and/or support to community projects. Nominees will be expected to cite examples of their work in support of their application.
Equality & Diversity Champion
This award recognises individuals, teams or an organisation that can demonstrate a significant contribution to help promote Equality and Diversity in their workplace and/or the wider community. The judges will be looking for an individual, or team that has worked to champion, develop or further initiatives that have had significant impact on promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in more of the following areas: LGBTQ+, Gender, Social Mobility, Race and Ethnicity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and/or Disability. It is expected that high standards of skill, professionalism and dedication will have been demonstrated, along with evidence of the positive contributions made. Nominees will be expected to cite examples of the work in support of their application.
Lifetime Achievement Award
This prestigious award will be given to a legal professional who has made an outstanding impact and lasting contribution to the legal services market in Nottinghamshire and legal community during their lifetime. This may be demonstrated through the individual's legal work and/or their involvement in projects within or outside their organisation.
The nomination should include why this person deserves to be recognised. The nomination should consider such qualities as their pioneering business flair, the values and ethical standards they uphold, why they are an inspiration and why they will have made a long-lasting impact on the legal community. The Council of the Nottinghamshire Law Society will review all nominations and announce the recipient at the Annual Awards Dinner.
The President and the judging panel will consider the nominations in due course and where there is more than one nominee, the judges will make a decision, which shall be final. The judging panel may consider nominations under additional categories, where the nomination may be better suited to that category. The winner will be announced at the Annual Awards Dinner on Friday 26th April 2024.
