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LALY awards celebrate legal aid stars

19 July 2023
Issue: 8034 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal aid focus , Career focus
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Deighton Pierce Glynn has won Legal Aid Firm of the Year at this year’s Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards (LALYs) for its work supporting former Ministry of Defence interpreters in Afghanistan at risk from Taliban reprisals.

The civil rights firm brought several successful judicial reviews on behalf of Afghan nationals who worked with the British forces yet were refused entry to the UK despite living in fear of their life. Partner Daniel Carey, accepting the award, revealed two clients had been kidnapped and tortured by the Taliban before the firm was able to help.

More than 500 people attended the awards in London last week, organised by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and compèred by broadcaster Symeon Brown.

The Outstanding Achievement award went to the family and legal team (Leigh Day and One Crown Office Row) of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life after viewing online material ‘romanticising self-harm’.

Other winners included Christian Weaver of Garden Court North (legal aid newcomer), Kathryn Cronin of Garden Court (barrister) and Alison Stanley of Bindmans (immigration).

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Paul Madden

Gilson Gray—Paul Madden

Partner appointed to head international insolvency and dispute resolution for England

Brachers—Gill Turner Tucker

Brachers—Gill Turner Tucker

Kent firm expands regional footprint through strategic acquisition

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan—William Charles

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan—William Charles

Financial disputes and investigations specialist joins as partner in London

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A school ski trip, a confiscated phone and an unauthorised hotel-room entry culminated in a pupil’s permanent exclusion. In this week's issue of NLJ, Nicholas Dobson charts how the Court of Appeal upheld the decision despite acknowledged procedural flaws
Is a suspect’s state of mind a ‘fact’ capable of triggering adverse inferences? Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Smith of Corker Binning examines how R v Leslie reshapes the debate
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
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