UK Diversity Legal Awards 2019 – Winners announced!

Our 10th anniversary UK Diversity Legal Awards ceremony took place on Thursday 28 November 2019 at a glittering black-tie gala event held at the 5* Leonardo Royal Hotel St Paul’s in London. An evening of inspiration and celebration, the Awards were attended by over 350 guests with representation from a cross-section of firms, chambers and legal industry bodies, including the Law Society of England and Wales, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Bar Council and sector stakeholders.

Presented by barrister and TV personality (ITV’s The Chase), Dr Shaun Wallace, the UK Diversity Legal Awards (a BSN initiative) recognise and promote excellence and good practice in the areas of equality, diversity and inclusion across the legal profession.

Congratulations to our inspirational winners:

ORGANISATION/TEAM AWARDS:

Recruiting Diverse Talent
WINNER – Strive Consultants

Managing Diverse Talent
WINNER – Lathams & Watkins LLP

Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year
WINNER – 1 Crown Office Row
Law Firm Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year
WINNER – Duncan Lewis Solicitors

In-house Legal Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year
WINNER – Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd
BSN Small Law Firm of the Year
WINNER – McKenzie Beute & Pope (Jacqueline McKenzie)
Access to Justice
WINNER – Duncan Lewis Solicitors
Mental Health & Wellbeing (Law Firm)
WINNER – Freeths Solicitors
Mental Health & Wellbeing (In-house Legal)
WINNER – eBay
Outstanding BAME Employee Network
WINNER – Bird & Bird LLP
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:
Diversity Champion (Law Firm)
WINNER – Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith LLP

Diversity Champion (In-house Legal)
WINNER – Sonia Janday, Senior Legal Counsel, Aviva Investors

BSN Rising Star (Chambers)
WINNER– Vida Simpeh, Barrister, 25 Bedford Row

BSN Rising Star (Private Practice)
WINNER – Ahmed Aydeed, Public Law Director, Duncan Lewis Solicitors

BSN Rising Star (In-house Legal)
WINNER – Omosuyi Fred-Omojole, Head of Legal, Anergi Holding

BSN Rising Star (Entrepreneurship)
WINNER – Milambo Makani, Trainee Solicitor, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

BSN Lawyer of the Year (Chambers)
WINNER – Laurie-Anne Power, Barrister, 25 Bedford Row
BSN Lawyer of the Year (Private Practice)
WINNER – Trevor Sterling, Partner, Moore Blatch LLP

BSN Lawyer of the Year (In-house Legal)
WINNER – Rashida Abdulai, CEO, Strand Sahara
BSN Lifetime Achievement Award
WINNER – Gina Miller

Highly commended recognitions were awarded to:

Irwin Mitchell (in the category of Mental Health & Wellbeing)

Vanessa Harvey, Recruitment Manager, Milbank LLP (in the category of Diversity Champion – Law Firm)

Mulika Sannie, VP – Business Affairs, Kobalt Music Group Limited (in the category of Diversity Champion – In-house Legal)

Hope Levy-Shepherd, Associate, Linklaters LLP (BSN Rising Star – Private Practice)

Nana Prempeh, Legal Counsel, Gazprom Marketing and Trading (BSN Rising Star – In-house Legal)

We are inspired by the dedication and commitment of our worthy winners and those highly commended to driving positive change for our profession!

We hope you will nominate your diversity champions, role models and initiatives for the UK Diversity Legal Awards 2020, nominations for which will open in the Spring 2020! For more information about these important Awards (including nominations and sponsorship opportunities), please visit www.diversitylegalawards.org or email enquiries@diversitylegalawards.org.