The annual LawWorks Pro Bono Awards were held at the Law Society and also livestreamed. The event was hosted by Sangita Myska, an award-winning journalist and BBC presenter. The Awards recognise and celebrate the pro bono commitment of LawWorks members, their charity and corporate partners, and the work of independent clinics in the LawWorks clinics network.
The LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards were kindly sponsored by LexisNexis, the Law Society of England and Wales and Salesforce.
Winners were chosen in nine categories, each representing the breadth and range of pro bono across England and Wales and internationally – by individuals, firms, in-house teams, law schools and law students, supported by charities, advice agencies, law centres and many non-legal volunteers.
LawWorks Chair of Trustees, Alasdair Douglas, said:
“Congratulations to the winners and finalists – all deserve recognition and celebration of their work and the difference they make in enabling access to justice, especially over what was another challenging year. We again received many truly inspiring nominations, all worthy of recognition and demonstrating how pro bono makes a difference to individuals, local communities, charities and not for profit organisations.”
The winners of the 2021 LawWorks Pro Bono Awards are:
- Best contribution by a Small or Medium Firm: Nottingham Law School Legal Advice Centre
- Best Contribution by a Large Firm: Bates Wells
- Junior Lawyers Division Pro Bono Award: Lucy Clifford, Travers Smith
- Best Contribution by an individual: Louise McCarthy, Sidley Austin
- The LawWorks Cymru Award: Cardiff Lawyers Care Advice Clinic
- Best Contribution by a Pro Bono Clinic: Whitechapel Legal Advice Clinic
- Best International Pro Bono Award (in partnership with A4ID): Clifford Chance
- Best New Pro Bono Activity: Maternity Action Pro Bono Partnership
- Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership: Pre-action Protocol Project Partnership with DLA Piper, Deighton Pierce Glynn, Care4Calais and Human for Rights Network
Judging
The judging panel for the awards were:
- Manda Banerji, Chair of the Law Society’s Junior Lawyers Division
- Yasmin Batliwala, Chief Executive of Advocates for International Development
- Clare Carter, Joint Chief Executive of the Access to Justice Foundation
- Chris Minnoch, Director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group
- Paul Rogerson, Editor of the Law Society Gazette