Page 1 - Messenger Sep 2017

A number of Manchester firms and individuals have been shortlisted in the 11th annual Law Society Excellence Awards amid strong competition from around England and Wales.
Individual solicitors short- listed are Emma Nawaz of Blackstone Solicitors, short- listed for Woman Lawyer of the Year. Lesley Graves of Citadel Law has been short- listed for Solicitor of the Year - Private Practice and Peter Garsden of Simpson Millar for Human Rights Lawyer.
Manchester firms Bott & Co are on the shortlist for the Learning and Development Award, Hugh Jones Solici- tors are shortlisted for the Private Client Practice Award and Kuits are up for the Conveyancing Award.
Peter Garsden of Simpson Millar has spent more than two decades seeking com- pensation for victims of child abuse and was re- cently honoured with the Life Time Achievement award at the Claims Man- agement Awards as well as winning a number of Man- chester Legal Awards over the past decade.
Peter was a driving force be- hind the launch of the Asso- ciation of Child Abuse Lawyers (ACAL) which pro-
vides specialist training in this highly sensitive and complex area. He has also offered professional coun- selling to his fee-earners in recognition of the impact this area of work can have on those involved.
Peter commented “I am de- lighted, but also very hon- oured, to have been shortlisted for Human Rights Lawyer of the Year. The Human Rights of every abuse victim are para- mount, fundamental, and vital to recognise in our legal system. The clients are extremely vulnerable and need strong and robust rep- resentation.”
Peter is currently working with four further survivor charities in petitioning the Education Secretary to in- troduce a new law forcing schools, faith groups, sports bodies, the NHS, and nurs- eries, to inform their local authority of all allegations and incidents of suspected and known abuse. He is also seeking to abolish time limits in child abuse cases.
Lesley Graves of Citadel Law says that she is honoured to have been shortlisted for Solicitor of the Year. She adds “ I am delighted that my work to support the PI sector has received national recognition” Lesley was a catastrophic injury partner at Irwin Mitchell, who in
2010 set up Citadel Law, a law firm dedicated to sup- porting the personal injury sector in the face of un- precedented government reform.
Lesley has been integral in restructuring and recovery situations, saving law firms from insolvency through improving cashflow in busi- ness critical situations.
Her commitment to sup- porting PI lawyers through both SRA CPD accredited training and a continuing competence approach to training and mentoring means she works as “part of the team” with white la- belled services to increase recoverable WIP. She demonstrates immediate value, advising on rehabili- tation and settlement, fo- cusing on commercial costs resolution.
Lesley has advised on tech- nical performance and val- ued personal injury WIP for bank credit, restructuring, sale, purchase and M&A in excess of £450M. Her work has led to the development of “LQC Analytics” – an inno- vative value enhancement, risk management and finan- cial forecasting tool that sits on top of case management systems to increase opera- tional performance in PI law firms.
Bott & Co, shortlisted in the
Peter Garsden
Learning and Development category continues to offer employees training pro- grammes geared to career development, which inspire and motivate employees. Their overall commitment to staff has seen the firm thrive and lead the way in finding and developing new niche areas of law.
Bott & Co radically adjusted their approach to staff de- velopment and recruitment in the wake of major changes to the personal in- jury industry and now boast an in-house training acad- emy under the brand of Bott Academy ‘Your career’ (our care, your career), low turnover rates and a highly engaged and motivated workforce ranked number 1 in the UK for revenue per lawyer.
This focus on training and developing staff provided
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Emma Nawaz
Lesley Graves
David Bott
Hugh Jones
October 09
September 2017
L-R: Duncan McGregor (Partner), Claire Heron (Associate), Tony Hardy (Head of Residential) at Kuits
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North West Law
Manchester firms and solicitors shortlisted in Law Society Excellence Awards
The Monthly Publication of the Manchester Law Society
In association with
Manchester Legal Awards 2017 principal sponsors
President’s Charity of the Year