The region’s legal sector celebrated its stunning achievements at the Yorkshire Legal Awards last night.
Some 900 legal professionals attended the Yorkshire Legal Awards at New Dock Hall in Leeds. BBC Breakfast presenter Mike Bushell was the host for the evening. More than 20 sponsors supported the event.
Paula Dillon, partner at Womble Bond Dickinson, was named Yorkshire Lawyer of the Year for 2018.
Paul Singh, who leads the litigation team at Sheffield City Council and is president of Sheffield & District Law Society, led the panel of judges. He also revealed Dillon as Yorkshire Lawyer of the Year, saying: “For the winner, we looked beyond someone who had won big cases or simply improved their firm’s turnover. We were looking for someone who had contributed to the legal community and the Yorkshire community as a whole.”
Among Dillon’s achievements, Singh noted her position as a senior partner who consistently appears in the Legal 500, as well as her championing of gender equality through her work at the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, and her fundraising for annual singing competition the Crypt Factor.
Jeremy Shulman received the Lifetime Achievement Award. He retired earlier this year, having founded Shulmans in Leeds in 1981. He was recognised for his contribution to the promotion of Leeds and Yorkshire businesses throughout his career.
Walker Morris was among the night’s biggest winners, picking up Large Firm of the Year and the Regulatory & Compliance Award.
Addleshaw Goddard was another, receiving the Commercial Property and Litigation & Dispute Resolution Awards.
Irwin Mitchell won the Banking & Finance Law Award, and its head of the asbestos-related disease team in Leeds, Ian Taft, was named Partner of the Year.
Stowe Family Law also did well, picking up the Family Law Award, as well as the much coveted Rising Star of the Year, which went to solicitor Charlotte Newman.
Organised by Barker Brooks Communications, a Leeds-based company that specialises in live events and media content in business-to-business professional markets, the Yorkshire Legal Awards have been celebrating the achievements of lawyers and law firms in the region since 2000.
The winners of the Yorkshire Legal Awards 2018:
Sponsored by Zenith Chambers
Oakwood Solicitors
Sponsored by Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks
Blacks Solicitors
Sponsored by LexisNexis
Walker Morris
Sponsored by DLA Piper
Laura Taylor, City of Wakefield MDC
Sponsored by The Apprenticeship Guide
Lupton Fawcett
Sponsored by Marsh
Irwin Mitchell
Sponsored by PSG
Emsleys Solicitors
Sponsored by InfoTrack
Addleshaw Goddard
Litigation & Dispute Resolution Award
Sponsored by IT Group
Addleshaw Goddard
Sponsored by SafeMove, part of Yorkshire Water
Charlotte Newman, Stowe Family Law
Sponsored by Langleys Solicitors
Irwin Mitchell
Sponsored by Midshire
BPP University Law School
Sponsored by Perfect Portal
Clarion
Sponsored by High Court Enforcement Group
ARC Pensions Law
Sponsored by ARAG
DLA Piper
Sponsored by Catax
Womble Bond Dickinson
Sponsored by Yorkshire Legal News
Howard & Byrne
Sponsored by Legal Eye
Walker Morris
Sponsored by Parklane Plowden
Stowe Family Law
Sponsored by Porsche Centre Leeds
Park Square Barristers
Sponsored by BPP University Law School
Ellie Leatherday, Lupton Fawcett
Sponsored by Brewin Dolphin
Ian Toft, Irwin Mitchell
Sponsored by Willis Towers Watson
Chris Allen, Blacks Solicitors
Presented by Paul Singh, Chair of the judging panel
Paula Dillon, Womble Bond Dickinson
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by tmgroup
Jeremy Shulman
