Behind every good outcome is a lawyer who got it right.
Most of the best legal work is never seen. A dispute avoided, a deal closed cleanly, a family protected, a business steered clear of risk. The better it is done, the less anyone notices.
The Legal Excellence Awards exist to recognise the lawyers, firms and chambers whose expertise, judgement and integrity set the standard in UK law.
Late nights.
Tight deadlines.
Finally, recognised.
The law protects everyone. Its best work goes unseen.
A solicitor who kept a family business together through a bitter dispute.
A barrister who took on a case nobody else would, and won it.
A small firm that became the name every local business trusts.
A paralegal whose work held a complex matter together.
A pro bono team that gave hundreds of people a voice.
Lawyers spend every day making the case for someone else.
This time the case is for them.
“We saw the work.”
“Thank you.”
From the first instruction to the final judgment.
Solicitors, barristers, legal executives, in house lawyers, paralegals, firms of every size and chambers.
The Lawyer
Whose advice clients rely on.
The Firm Leader
Building a firm people trust.
The Rising Star
Early in a career and already outstanding.
The Barrister
Advocacy of the highest order.
The Firm
The practice clients would not want to lose.
Know a lawyer who deserves to be seen?
Four ways to be recognised.
Legal People
Lawyers, managing partners, rising stars, barristers, legal executives, in house lawyers and paralegals.
Firms, Chambers and Teams
Law firms, boutiques, chambers, in house teams and specialist practice teams.
Service and Innovation
Legal innovation, client service, access to justice and business development.
People and Standards
Employers, diversity and inclusion, training and ethics.
Recognition that builds trust for you.
Client confidence
Independent proof for existing and prospective clients.
A team moment
Something the whole firm or chambers can be proud of.
Talent attraction
Good lawyers want to join firms that win.
Connections
Meet firm leaders, barristers and general counsel from across the UK.
You do not need to be a big firm.
Judges consider the size of the firm, chambers or team, so a sole practitioner can win against a national firm.
Client identities and privileged material are never needed: describe matters in anonymised terms.
Figures can be given as percentages or ranges.
How you serve clients matters as much as the size of the matter.
The question isn't:
“Are our matters big enough?”
A better question might be:
“Is our work good enough?”
Recognition only counts when it is earned fairly.
The value of an award depends on the integrity behind it, so the way entries are judged should be clear before anyone enters.
Free to enter
Nominating and entering cost nothing. No category depends on buying a ticket, a table or a package.
Independent judging
Entries are scored by an independent panel, not by the organisers, working under a confidentiality agreement.
Read moreConflicts managed
Judges declare any conflict of interest and stand aside from the entries it touches.
Read moreSponsors support the awards. They never decide the results.
The best lawyers rarely put themselves forward.
They say:
“It is just part of the job.”
“The whole team did it.”
“The client deserves the credit.”
And sometimes that is exactly why somebody else needs to say:
“Their work made the difference.”
“They deserve to be recognised.”
If you work with a lawyer, firm or chambers like that, put their name forward. It takes a minute.
From a name to the night itself.
Discover
Find the award category that fits the achievement best.
Nominate
Put forward a lawyer, a team, a firm or a set of chambers.
Tell the story
Share what was achieved, and the difference it made.
Judging
Eligible entries are judged against the published criteria.
Recognition
Finalists and winners are celebrated at the awards.
The law is how fairness is kept.
Every matter has a story.
Every firm has a moment.