CILEx has given me the opportunity to shine, become a better lawyer and thrive doing what I love, and is now a huge part of my life. The flexibility of studying whilst gaining experience, and the ongoing development CILEx offers, has helped me progress in my career. This, alongside the work I do with other legal professionals and the branch, offered something different to employers and set me apart from my peers. I have quickly progressed as a result. More importantly, my hard work, commitment and dedication have been key.

Winning this award has already impacted my career, as the media coverage received has increased my exposure within my firm. I am new to the firm, so it is important to make a good impression. It has also given me the opportunity to support new CILEx members within the firm.

I want to continue to inspire future generations, continue to impact people’s decisions to join the CILEx profession and ensure CILEx lawyers know they are on a level playing field with solicitors. I hope I can do this by joining the CILEx Professional Board in the future, sharing my story and ensuring members get the advice and support they need to achieve their goals.

Legal Expert Award winner: Bahar Ata, Duncan Lewis Solicitors Ltd
Sponsored by CILEx

Regulation Bahar writes: I am a director (partner) within Duncan Lewis Solicitors and specialise in public law, mainly immigration. I work with some very dedicated lawyers, who work tirelessly to represent the most vulnerable individuals of our society. I find myself in a very privileged position to practise within an area of law I feel so passionate about.

I began my career some 15 years ago, and was promoted to partner shortly after qualifying as a Fellow. Throughout my career, I have established a varied practice of representing clients in unlawful detention claims; challenges against the competent authority decisions in respect of traÿcking claims; age assessments challenges; and challenging removals to third countries under Dublin Regulations. Having a varied practice has allowed me to gain extensive knowledge and experience of representing clients at the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to learn from and work with some of the most intelligent lawyers in the country. I am a firm believer in passing on knowledge to aspiring lawyers who are starting their careers through training and providing on-the-job support.

Winning the Legal Expert Award has been one of the most defining moments of my career. Achieving anything of value takes hard work and dedication, and winning this award has made me even more determined to give a voice to those who may otherwise lack one and to continue to dedicate my professional life to the more marginalised members of our society.

Legal Expert Property Award winner: Amanda Payne, Fishers Solicitors LLP
Sponsored by Landmark Information

Amanda writes: It means everything to be recognised as a CILEx Property Expert: not only is it a great achievement to be recognised in the world of property, but it also gives me a sense of fulfilment. I was nominated by my colleagues and partners at work, not only for my technical knowledge, but also for the additional, personal time and effort I have put in over the years, attending clients at their home or place of work out of hours and managing client expectations during the stressful process of moving home.

I started as a legal secretary in 1986, studied for two years at college and by correspondence for two years with CILEx whilst being a single mum. After moving to fee-earner status in the late 1990s, I am now a partner in my firm. It’s not just about performing better than others in order to win, it’s performing to my own high ability and standards, and now passing on knowledge in land law and the conveyancing process to those more junior to help them achieve great things too: my role is now more managerial than fee-earning on a day-to-day basis.

Winning has brought acknowledgement from those that I know in the industry, my colleagues at work and those from the local community in Ashby. I am thankful to all those that have helped me along my CILEx journey for having faith in my ability and allowing me to learn and develop.

Legal Expert Private Client Award winner: Melissa Hill, Thorneycroft Solicitors Ltd
Sponsored by April King, CILEx National Awards Principal Sponsor

Melissa writes: This has been quite the year for me and winning the award is definitely one of my greatest achievements.

I began my legal career during my mid-20s after working in the insolvency industry from the age of 16. I studied CILEx Level 3 and accounting part-time throughout my teens, and after several years I decided to move into the legal sector. I was lucky enough to find a role as a private client assistant at Thorneycroft, specialising in wills and probate, and began studying the CILEx Level 6 Diploma in Law and Practice in 2017. I completed the qualification in June, and I am extremely proud to be travelling back to London for my graduation ceremony in October.

Changing your career isn’t easy and you do have to make sacrifices, but winning the CILEx award makes all the hard work worthwhile. The award has already given me the opportunity to shine like no other, and I hope it inspires others to push their boundaries and strive for greatness.

Now that I have obtained my Level 6 qualification, I hope to apply to be a Fellow of CILEx and continue to progress my legal career. I have had a truly wonderful year, and feel extremely privileged to receive such a prestigious award. What an honour it will be to be an award-winning lawyer!

Visionary Leadership Award winner: Nicholas Williams, Lancashire County Council
Sponsored by Institute of Directors

Nicholas writes: I was most surprised to win my award. When approached by our member, Navaid, I was flattered that he wanted to nominate me. The nomination made me proud that my work had not gone unnoticed, and so, when shortlisted and eventually selected as the winner, I was in disbelief. Having read about the other finalist, Caroline Packer, and what she had achieved, I had already resigned myself to finish as highly commended!

My desire to lead Lancashire CILEx Branch was natural progression from co-founder through secretary and vicechair. I was fortunate to be surrounded by great individuals within our membership and a highly supportive committee, to whom I am grateful for their support and belief in my ideas. My current day job as a child-protection paralegal was, perhaps, influenced by a mutual interest in law and supporting children and young people.

The award was centred around the work completed and ideas brought to life as chairperson. Taking the decision to step down from that role to focus on my expanding family, I have not moved far and currently serve as media/PR officer. In time, I would love to lead our branch again, something which has been challenging and enthusing in equal measure.

My hope is that the award provides a platform for developing connections and strengthening our branch further. Having held several committee roles, I can also provide guidance to any committee members across the branch network should they need it.

Trowers & Hamlins LLP: winner of the Diversity & Inclusion Award:
Sponsored by Irwin Mitchell LLP
and of the Mental Health & Wellbeing Initiative Award:
Sponsored by LawCare

Trowers & Hamlins LLP writes: We are thrilled with our double win at this year's CILEx Awards. Receiving recognition for these awards demonstrates the impact of our diversity and inclusion programme, TrowersIncludes, and celebrates the spirit of our firm and how we work together to maintain a happy and healthy workplace; this includes our focus on mental health and wellbeing, which is a top priority for us and fits with our culture at Trowers.

Just like all businesses, to be relevant we need to reflect the clients we serve and the world we operate in. The double win at the CILEx Awards has highlighted the work we do as a firm to support our people to be the best for our clients.

We have always been proud of our natural commitment to diversity and inclusion – TrowersIncludes provides the framework for everybody to get involved with the programme at the heart of the firm.

Championed by senior leaders and driven by teams across our business, TrowersIncludes brings together a network of groups and initiatives. These include age, ethnicity, gender, work and family, LGBTQ+, social mobility, religion and belief, and physical and mental wellbeing. Diverse by nature, they are united in their mission to spread the word about the positive impact of diversity.

Our Physical & Mental Wellbeing Network aims to support, encourage and promote wellbeing and disability awareness (whether mental or physical) within the firm. Our activities aim to complement the work that HR and the Mental Health First Aiders are already doing in terms of wellbeing and disability awareness and support. We are working with HR to increase the avenues of support and knowledge of wellbeing within the firm.

Innovation & People Development Award winner: Chadwick Lawrence LLP
Sponsored by CILEx

Chadwick Lawrence LLP writes: At Chadwick Lawrence, we want to ensure our people are happy, positive, empowered and skilled in what they do. We have introduced a number of projects to ensure this occurs throughout the firm, including the FeeEarner Progression Scheme, a health and wellbeing programme, ‘lunch and learn’ and many more.

Training and developing staff are extremely important to us, and being a member of CILEx is a huge part of this as it provides support for the team as well as training and experience across a variety of disciplines. Since introducing our initiatives, our staff have had higher levels of morale and our retention rate is at an all-time high. People enjoy being at work and getting involved in the many initiatives.

Winning this award is recognition for our many years of hard work and dedication to developing our employees. The impact is fantastic, and it will help pave a way for the new era of CILEx employees.

Law Firm of the Year (100+ Employees) Award winner: Lyons Davidson Ltd
Sponsored by Mindful Education

Karen Rendle, Lyons Davidson’s Learning & Development and Operations Partner, writes: At Lyons Davidson, we keep our customers at the heart of our business. This is demonstrated by our legal expertise and the work we do in understanding customer needs and treating customers fairly. In addition, we significantly invest in technology to deliver an innovative and market-leading customer service. We’re proud of our 92% level of customer satisfaction, with less than 0.5% complaint rate overall.

As a company, we recognise that investment in our people is fundamental to our success and appreciate the benefits that come with encouraging and funding the CILEx route to qualification for those who prefer to earn as they learn. We are a forward-thinking business that has, for a long time, recognised the benefits of promoting CILEx members to senior positions.

An example of this is the two employees who were within the first 200 Fellows to be made partners of law firms. More recently, we’ve embraced the apprenticeship scheme, developing a specific recruitment process and providing the support of a dedicated apprenticeship coordinator.

Winning this award is testament to how our values of accessibility, commitment, communication and innovation are at the very core of what we do. It demonstrates to our people, clients and business partners that we can meet the challenges of a changing legal landscape, viewing these as an opportunity to nurture and support talent and to provide business solutions for the future.

Law Firm of the Year (1-99 Employees) Award winner: BakerLaw LLP
Sponsored by Mindful Education

Amanda Glover, Managing Partner at BakerLaw LLP, writes: We were delighted to win. It was a recognition for the entire firm as to their tireless dedication to their professionalism, client focus and values they hold dear and demonstrate daily in their work. It strengthens the relationship with CILEx, giving Fellows the reward in mentoring junior staff, and for our junior staff shines the spotlight on a training route we are proud to support.

For BakerLaw, our CILEx staff have demonstrated their commitment to study whilst gaining experience and this shines in their work ethic and client-centric behaviours. It was a privilege to receive recognition, and to have the opportunity to bask in the amazingly positive feedback through both our local and on-line community.

It also meant pizza and prosecco for the whole firm for time out to celebrate as a ‘work family’. For a firm led by a Fellow, it is reward for the perseverance of breaking the traditional cultural barriers to qualifying and to highlight the quality of lawyers coming from a multitude of backgrounds which lead us to growth and a diverse staff base.

Promoting Access to the Profession Award winner: The Family Law Company
Sponsored by PRIME

The Family Law Company writes: We have been working hard for years to turn on its head the perception of a legal career being only for the privileged few. A good proportion of our board, and our most senior lawyers, studied through CILEx. We make vacancies open to all, including those without experience, and this has proved really successful for recruitment.

When we interview, we look for aptitude and an attitude that fits in with our company culture rather than the ‘right’ background. We promote purely on the basis of ability: one of our most respected senior associates grew up in the care system and her CILEx qualification was funded through social services.

Opening up the profession this way means we have access to a far wider pool of talent, with lawyers and support staff who have a real empathy with the circumstances of individuals and families they work with.

Our CILEx lawyers are active in the Devon Branch, and we are very encouraging of their involvement. We are particularly proud of this award as it publicly recognises The Family Law Company as a firm that inspires more people to understand they can have a career in law, regardless of their education or background.

As a consequence, we celebrate the diversity and knowledgebase this gives to our team, which ultimately benefits our clients. Our ethos is that whatever an individual’s background, each one of us is passionate about the law, positive, optimistic and vital to the success of our company.

CILEx Employee of the Year Award winner: Matthew Brecknock

Matthew writes: I had just come back from annual leave after welcoming a second baby girl, so I was already feeling overwhelmed, and when Linda Ford told me I was a finalist, I genuinely couldn’t believe it. So, to win rounded off a fantastic couple of weeks. What made it even more special was the reaction from my colleagues and members, who sent me numerous congratulation messages.

I have worked in customer service for 20 years, and been a manager of people for 10 of those. What I have experienced helps with the support, the planning, the ability to adapt and the training to ensure every individual consistently performs to the best of their ability. I like to think I am highly approachable and that I make time for everyone who needs it to ensure we have an effective workplace environment and that everybody feels valued.

Winning the award won’t change me as an individual or how I work. I will just continue to work hard, be there for my team and our members, and see where it takes us. CILEx is a fantastic organisation to work for, and I am proud to be part of everything we are trying to achieve.

CILEx Branch of the Year: Lancashire Branch

Launched spring 2017, the branch was first nominated for this award after its few months, such was its immediate impact. We were highly commended last year and have now taken the final step to win.

Over the year, we have initiated a charity seminar with great speakers, including sports personalities, integrated speakers into diverse and engaging meetings, tailored chambers-led CPD to members’ needs, and rolled out our ‘branching out’ initiative.

Our membership benefits include: easier access to branch meetings; regular learning events free to members; unique events for members; relationships with local organisations (meaning increased event variety and access to fellow businesses’ events); an introductory first-year membership offer; networking opportunities; social events with discounted ticket prices; free barrister-led CPD events; and regular branch updates through a number of social media platforms.

We hope this award win will both reflect the hard work running through the branch’s core, and also serve to promote ‘branch’ to those who are unaware of branches generally and the potential support such groups can offer.