The shortlist for the Legal Personality of the Year has been announced by the NLJ editorial team.
All legal professionals are now invited to cast their vote by 5pm on 18 February, by visiting this link. The winner will be revealed at the LexisNexis Legal Awards ceremony in London on 13 March.
First up is Harriet Wistrich, solicitor at Birnberg Peirce and Partners and founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice, which brings cases holding the state to account in relation to violence against women and girls. She launched judicial review proceedings against the Parole Board’s decision to release the notorious ‘Black Cab Rapist’ John Worboys, a decision that horrified his many victims—police believe he may have raped more than 100 women. She succeeded, and went on to successfully represent two of Worboys’ victims in legal action against the police for failing to act earlier.
The next contender is Louise Whitfield, partner at Deighton Pierce Glynn. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of her clients, the heterosexual couple Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, in their challenge against legislation which prevents opposite-sex couples from entering into a civil partnership.
Third, Michael Mylonas QC, head of the Court of Protection team at Serjeants’ Inn, who led the team representing Alder Hey Children's Hospital during the Alfie Evans case, a high-profile and often heated case concerning the decision to withdraw life support from an infant with a severe neurodegenerative disorder. Michael also won a landmark case in the Court of Protection concerning the emergency extraction of sperm for fertility treatment from a man who had suffered a catastrophic brain injury, despite a lack of written consent.
Fourth, Jacqueline McGuigan, of TMP Solicitors, who secured a ground-breaking victory for workers’ rights, in a claim against Pimlico Plumbers. The nub of the case was whether plumber Gary Smith was a ‘worker’ or an ‘independent contractor’. McGuigan’s success means thousands of workers can now benefit from sick pay and holiday pay.
Fifth, finally and by no means least, step forward Cori Crider, a lawyer at Reprieve from 2006 to 2018, defending people from human rights abuses in the post-9/11 era. Last year, Cori secured a major victory in the Supreme Court, in a case regarding the unlawful rendition to Libya of Abdel-Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar in 2004. Subsequently, prime minister Theresa May took the unprecedented step of apologising to the couple in a letter read out in the House of Commons.
