Bar Placement Week, which aims to boost social mobility within the profession, scooped a prize at the Halsbury Legal Awards last week.
The Bar Council initiative gives high achieving Year 12 students from low-income backgrounds a coveted week’s work experience with a barrister as well as training in advocacy. The scheme won the Award for Diversity and Inclusion at the awards, hosted by LexisNexis in London this week and attended by 400 people.
Nicholas Lavender QC, Bar chair, said: “The students are given an important taste of what life at the Bar is like, enabling them to make an informed decision about pursuing it as a career.”
The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, an independent research institute, won the prestigious Rule of Law Award. The judging panel commented that the centre had, since launching in 2010, “embarked on several major projects and activities in the UK as well as in a range of countries including Bahrain, Russia, Kenya, Libya, Nepal, Singapore and Burma/Myanmar”.
Lord Judge, the popular former Lord Chief Justice, received the Lifetime Achievement award. Sir Alan Moses, chair of the new press regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation, was awarded Legal Personality of the Year.
Virtuoso Legal won Law Firm of the Year award in the under 50 employees’ category, while RPC won the same accolade in the 50 plus employee group.
The claims validation team at DAC Beachcroft Claims Ltd picked up the award for Innovation. Matrix Chambers won the London Chamber of the Year award and Ropewalk Chambers won the regional chambers award.
Professor Marc Weller, who writes on the aftermath of the Scottish referendum in this week’s NLJ was recognised for his Academic Contribution.
