Yorkshire Lawyer Awards 2009 - Winners Announced!

25/09/09

As a professional group, it’s fair to say that lawyers haven’t been having much fun recently, so you would have been forgiven for expecting this year’s Yorkshire Lawyer Awards to be a subdued affair.

But nominations were plentiful and the standard high. Tickets for the event sold as quickly as ever and it was clear from the smiles and cheers, and the convivial atmosphere in the room, that plenty of people were looking for an opportunity to let off steam.

The winners on the night came from a good cross-section of the legal community – from Sheffield to Bradford, and from 4-partner high street practices through to global giants.

The winners
Bradford family specialist Williscrofts won firm of the year (1-10 partners), and another firm closely tied to the local community, Sheffield/Rotherham’s Howells, won the award for mid-sized firm. DLA Piper won in the 30+ partners category.

Industrial disease specialists Pickerings won the award for niche firm in recognition for its work with absestosis and mesothelioma victims.

Hammonds’ Paul Mann was a deserving winner of the Young Achiever Award, and Zermanskys’ Norman Taylor picked up the Dispute Resolution Award for the work he, and his firm’s Dispute Resolution team, has done in promoting collaborative family law in the North.

Mary Butler of Sheffield’s Bell & Buxton won the Private Client Award (as well as two raffle prizes – one of which she graciously passed on).

Big hitter Michael Reevey of Addleshaws picked up the Real Estate Award, and Last Cawthra Feather picked up the Enterprise Award for their innovative approach to client communication and use of internet technology.

Hammonds picked up their second award of the evening, winning the Corporate & Commercial Award and DLA Piper also made it two when its restructuring team was given the Corporate Recovery Award.

The Presidents’ Award was, this year, given to someone who in the words of Jeremy Shulman, “played a leading role in persuading Yorkshire-based companies that there was no need to go to London for good advice on major deals and stock market flotations.
“It is largely thanks to the hard work of this man and one or two others that the corporate capability of Yorkshire – and Leeds in particular – is now so firmly on the map,” he said before announcing the winner – Martin Shaw of Pinsent Mason

By the end of Jeremy Shulman’s introduction to the winner of the coveted Yorkshire Lawyer of the Year Award, which detailed a long and impressive career at the heart of the Sheffield business and sporting communities (not to mention Yorkshire’s legal community), it came as a surprise to very few that Irwin Mitchell’s Howard Culley was this year’s deserved recipient.

As well as honouring hard work and talent in the Yorkshire legal profession, the awards raised over £1,500 for local charity, Yorkshire Cancer Research.

The awards were organised by Barker Brooks Media and supported by the Leeds Law Society, in association with the headline sponsor, MD5.

The 2009 winners in full

Law Firm 1-10 Partners
Williscroft & Co. (Bradford)

Law Firm 11-30 Partners
Howells Solicitors (Sheffield, Rotherham, Hull)

Law Firm 31+ Partners
DLA Piper (Leeds, Sheffield)

Niche Law Firm
John Pickering & Partners (Halifax)

Rising Star Award
Paul Mann of Hammonds LLP (Leeds)

Private Client Award
Mary Butler of Bell & Buxton Solicitors (Sheffield)

Real Estate Award
Michael Reevey of Addleshaw Goddard LLP (Leeds)

Dispute Resolution Award
Zermansky and Partners (Leeds)

Enterprise Award
Last Cawthra Feather (Bradford, Ilkley, Leeds, Shipley)

Corporate & Commercial Award
Hammonds LLP (Leeds)

Corporate Recovery Award
DLA Piper (Leeds, Sheffield)

Yorkshire Lawyer of the Year
Howard Culley of Irwin Mitchell Solicitors (Leeds)

Presidents’ Award
Martin Shaw of Pinsent Masons LLP (Leeds)