Council lawyer and housing association legal team shortlisted for Law Society Excellence Awards 2019

Robin Denford, the in-house advocate for Bristol City Council’s Community Litigation Team, has been shortlisted for Solicitor of the Year – In-House in the Law Society’s 2019 Excellence Awards.

Informing the nomination, Denford has been praised as being the “backbone” of Bristol Legal Services and is thought to be heavily relied upon by his superiors for advice on how to proceed with cases. He is also said to provide considerable support to his peers in the organisation.

Hazel Randall, Head of Legal at NHS Digital, has also been nominated for the Solicitor of the Year – In-House award.

Randall established the legal team at NHS Digital, the national information and technology partner of the health and care system, from scratch in 2016. She was nominated for the award by her team who described her as a “fantastic and inspirational leader and an excellent lawyer”.

In other categories, the legal team at Southern Housing Group - Anthony Armitage, Mark Smith and Graniah Douglas - has been shortlisted for the Excellence In-house award for its project to defend unmeritorious housing disrepair allegations.

Southern Housing Group said that prior to the legal team's initiative, disrepair claims were too often taken for granted, with no underlying scrutiny, with the result proceedings would be issued and defended in the usual way. "Each claim was incurring significant costs and the repairs themselves were being delayed."

Armitage, Southern's Group General Counsel, says “Before engaging on this project, we were a predominantly advisory, commercial and transaction service for the Group. Taking the initiative to tackle disrepair claims took us well beyond our comfort zone.

“However, it was more than worth it. Internally it soon became clear how effective the in-house legal function can be. By integrating itself into the business, the in-house team can become trusted counsel across multiple disciplines.”

Avon and Somerset Police’s legal team are also in contention for the Excellence In-house award for their application of law to challenge existing legal boundaries to secure Civil Preventative Orders to protect and safeguard the vulnerable, particularly in areas of modern slavery, domestic violence, child sexual exploitation, drugs and anti-social behaviour.

The awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 23 October 2019.