THE FINALISTS for The Law Awards of Scotland 2016 in association with HR Consultancy have been unveiled, with a number of Scotland’s leading practices vying for accolades.
Organised by The Herald for the first time, and supported by HR Consultancy, Stirling Park, the Law Society of Scotland and McKinstry Practice Management, the winners in 20 categories will be announced on Thursday November 24 at a gala dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow.
Since 2004, the awards have recognised the outstanding contribution of Scotland’s leading legal figures and firms to ensure clients accessing the Scottish judicial system receive the highest standards of advice and service.
Hilary Roberts, managing director of HR Consultancy, said: “Congratulations to all three shortlisted firms in the Law Firm of the Year with over 40 fee earners.
“As well as growing the business and increasing financial performance these businesses have shown real excellence in their areas of expertise and have a strong vision for the firm’s future performance and growth. Importantly for us as a professional services recruitment firm, these companies have shown a real commitment to staff development which has helped cement their place as one of Scotland’s top law firms.”
This year saw a record number of entries and judges were overwhelmed with the global reach, calibre of the entrants and the impact that trainees have on aiding successful law divisions.
Ronnie Murison, director of Sheriff Officer Services, Stirling Park offered his congratulations to every firm that has been shortlisted across all categories, in particular, those in both the Litigation and Debt Recovery awards, which Stirling Park is sponsoring this year.
“The quality of entry has been extremely high, which is testament to the high standards within the legal sector throughout Scotland,” he said. “The final will be a real celebration of the achievements in 2016 and we are very much looking forward to the evening”.
Graeme McKinstry, director of McKinstry Practice Management, said: “This Lifetime Achievement award has always recognised exceptional talent recognising a truly distinguished career and contribution. This year’s nominations are exceptional and will seriously challenge the judging panel. Lifetime Achievement is an accolade open to any lawyer and a fitting career pinnacle and we are delighted to be its sponsors.”
Graham Matthews, vice president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to support this award which celebrates the global impact of Scotland’s legal profession. Both the shortlisted firms demonstrate the important role played by Scottish solicitors as the trusted advisors of choice for businesses across the world.”
Here's this year's shortlist:
Law Firm of the Year Under 40 Fee Earners
Innes & Mackay Solicitors & Estate Agents
Macleod & MacCallum
MBM Commercial LLP
Watermans Solicitors
Law Firm of the Year Over 40 Fee Earners - sponsored by HR Consultancy
Digby Brown Solicitors
DLA Piper Scotland LLP
Harper Macleod LLP
Global Law Firm of the Year - sponsored by Law Society of Scotland
Burness Paull
DLA Piper Scotland LLP
High Street Firm of the Year
Innes & Mackay Solicitors & Estate Agents
Paris Steele W.S.
The McKinstry Company
Sole Practitioner of the Year
To be announced on the evening.
Solicitor of the Year
Aamer Anwar - Aamer Anwar & Co
Brian Inkster - Inksters
Lisa Law - Innes & Mackay Solicitors & Estate Agents
Managing Partner of the Year
Graeme McKinstry - The McKinstry Company
Scott Whyte - Watermans
Simon Rae – DLA Piper Scotland LLP
Team of the Year
Harper Macleod LLP - Energy Team
Harper Macleod LLP
Macdonald Henderson Limited
Up & Coming Lawyer of the Year
Jen Paton – Shoosmiths
Shona White – Shoosmiths
Trainee of the Year
Alistair Sloan - Inksters
Iain Halliday – McGill & Co
John Morgan – Brodies
Michael Kusznir – Claphams Solicitors
Criminal Law Firm of the Year
Aamer Anwar & Co
Beltrami & Co Ltd
Capital Defence Lawyers
Livingstone Brown
Private Client Firm of the Year
Allan McDougall Solicitors
Innes & Mackay Solicitors & Estate Agents
Paris Steele W.S.
Family Law Firm of the Year
Family Law Matters Scotland
Livingstone Brown
Paris Steele W.S.
Property Firm of the Year
Leslie Wolfson & Co
McQueen Legal
Shoosmiths
Litigation Firm of the Year - sponsored by Stirling Park
Allan McDougall Solicitors
Gilson Gray LLP
Harper Macleod LLP
Inksters
Irwin Mitchell Scotland
CSR Firm of the Year
Digby Brown Solicitors
Innes & Mackay Solicitors & Estate Agents
Macleod & MacCallum
Shoosmiths
Debt Recovery Firm of the Year - sponsored by Stirling Park
Gilson Gray LLP
Shoosmiths
TCH Law Solicitors
In-house Legal Team/Lawyer of the Year
CYBG PLC
Rosalind McInnes, BBC Scotland
Chairman's Award
To be announced on the evening.
Lifetime Achievement Award - sponsored by McKinstry Practice Management
To be announced on the evening.
For more information on how to attend the awards please visit www.thelawawards.co.uk or contact Lyndsay Wilson on 0141 302 7407.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here