British Legal Awards: First impressions count

How can I put this delicately? There were some law firms that submitted entries to the British Legal Awards that didn’t exactly make much effort to the meet the criteria for the categories.

This slapdash approach is hard to fathom, given the calibre of people who are actually judging the awards, many of whom are important buyers of legal services.

During the judging day, which took place earlier this month, some judges wondered out loud whether they should take their personal experience and general market knowledge into account when assessing entries from firms that had clearly let themselves down.

But I don’t want to put people off from entering next year, as there were plenty of excellent entries, helping to make for a shortlist that will demonstrate the strength and depth of the UK’s legal market.

One of the most hotly contested categories was for corporate social responsibility (CSR) project of the year. It attracted a wealth of submissions that reflected not just the level of energy being channelled by law firms into CSR initiatives, but also the diversity of their approaches.

Indeed, one of the judges, Jeremy Hand, the chairman of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, made a point of saying how impressed he was with the level of commitment on display.

Hand knows a thing or two about law firms, having set out his stall to invest in the legal market. This is evidently one aspect of the profession’s work he had not fully appreciated until now.

We will be publishing the full shortlist for the awards soon – but here’s a sneak preview of the finalists for CSR project of the year (in alphabetical order!).

• Berwin Leighton Paisner, which has established a thriving CSR programme under the leadership of a dedicated CSR manager;
• Clifford Chance, for its support of the microfinance movement, which secures loans for disadvantaged people who are beyond the reach of the traditional banking sector;
• Cripps Harries Hall, for its community involvement policy, which has both encouraged voluntary work among its staff and channelled it into a series of projects;
• Weightmans, whose own community programme includes a ‘ready for work’ initiative that provides work experience for the unemployed;
• Weil Gotshal & Manges, whose London office has been monitoring proceedings in the International Criminal Court for the firm’s pro bono client, Human Rights Watch; and
• Wragge & Co, whose legal support for a local domestic violence charity was extended to include media know-how when the firm’s corporate communications department stepped in to advise the charity on the fall out after confidential documents were leaked to the media.