Osborne Clarke was named Large Law Firm of the Year and Kelcey & Hall Firm of the Year with up to 15 Partners at the Bristol Law Society annual awards dinner last night.
Osborne Clarke employment lawyer Phillip Chivers made it a double for his firm by landing the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year title.
The awards were presented in front 420 guests at the Bristol Marriott Hotel City Centre – the largest ever attendance for the event.
Other winners were Xavier Baker from UWE (Law Student of the Year), Evi Economou of Bristol & Avon Law Centre (Support Team Member), Barbara Likulunga, also of Bristol & Avon Law Centre (Junior Lawyer), DAC Beachcroft (CSR Firm of the Year), St John’s Chambers (Chambers of the Year), Robin Denford from Bristol City Council (Lawyer of the Year) and VWV Approach (Team of the Year).
Andrew Langdon QC was presented with the President’s Outstanding Achievement Award by president Gary Lightwood.
The judges in the Law Firm of the Year category singled out Osborne Clarke for demonstrating excellence in legal services.
The firm, which has 500 people in its Bristol office, has had impressive international revenue growth in the past year and has doubled UK income in the past five years.
Head of the Bristol office Peter Clough said: “We’re delighted to be awarded Law Firm of the Year – as well as being involved in many high-profile deals in the region, we have made significant investments in technology, which have allowed us to offer increased innovation to our clients.
“We also continue to invest in our people, with wellbeing initiatives and development programmes. This award tops off a fantastic year for us and really reflects the hard work of our fantastic people.”
Osborne Clarke beat VWV and Barcan + Kirby to the award – the first time the latter firm had entered the category for firms with more than 15 partners having previously won the smaller firm category.
In the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year category, the judges said Phillip Chivers, pictured, “demonstrated strong and dedicated commitment” in supplying pro bono work to the Avon and Bristol Law Centre.
The centre offers free specialist legal support to people in need, providing access to the justice system in social welfare law. It has strong ties with Osborne Clarke and Phillip has volunteered at its advice line surgery for many years, where he advises users on their workplace rights and the steps they need to take to resolve workplace issues.
Peter Clough added: “Congratulations to Phillip – as a firm we are incredibly proud of our pro bono work with Avon and Bristol Law Centre, as well as the many other Bristol organisations we support.
“We encourage as many of our employees as possible to do pro bono or voluntary work by offering them the chance to take paid leave to do so. This type of work is hugely rewarding and makes such a difference to the community.”
The dinner raised money for Freewheelers, the emergency motorcycle volunteer service that delivers essential blood and medical supplies, with an auction for a bespoke Mulberry Bayswater handbag bringing in more than £2,000 alone.
Bristol Business News will have photos of all the award winners in a special report next week.
