Womble Bond Dickinson

Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) celebrated a night of success at the Yorkshire Legal Awards 2018, held on 11 October at the New Dock Hall in Leeds.

The firm took home the award for Intellectual Property Team of the Year for its Leeds-based team of solicitors, trade mark attorneys and other IP specialists, which was commended by the judges for its high-profile work for clients both in the UK and overseas.

Patrick Cantrill, WBD’s head of IP, commented: ‘It's fantastic for us to win this award and to see our achievements recognised. The real credit belongs to the many people in our IP team who all work extremely hard to achieve successful results for clients both locally and internationally.’

In addition to being recognised for its IP offering, the firm is also home to the winner of Lawyer of the Year, Paula Dillon (pictured). A partner in WBD’s real estate team and a member of its UK and global boards, Paula is highly involved in the Yorkshire region and has been a champion of diversity and equality, particularly in encouraging women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers. She is also the first female president of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, and led the firm’s diversity and inclusion programme.

Paul Singh, the president of the Sheffield & District Law Society and the leader of the judging panel, said of Paula’s award: ‘For the winner, we looked beyond someone who had won big cases or simply improved their firm’s turnover. We were looking for someone who had contributed to the legal community and the Yorkshire community as a whole.’