Warwickshire wins Legal Team of the Year at Local Government Legal Awards 2017

Warwickshire County Council Legal Services, Legal Team of the Year

Warwickshire County Council Legal Services won Legal Team of the Year at the Local Government Legal Awards 2017, which were held in Birmingham last week.

The legal team at City of Wolverhampton Council was highly commended in the category, which was sponsored by Ashfords. Also on the shortlist were Durham County Council, Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership, West Lancashire Borough Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Wendy Ratcliffe of Milton Keynes Council was meanwhile named Local Government Legal Professional of the Year.

The shortlist for this award, which was sponsored by DPS Software, comprised: Sarita Riley of Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership, Gurbinder Singh Sangha of Coventry City Council, Brett Davies of Wakefield Council and Zabina Bi of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Bi was, however, named Junior Lawyer of the Year. Ben Hitch of Wakefield and Tom Pugh of the Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership were highly commended in this category, which was sponsored by Iken.

The shortlist for the Junior Lawyer award also comprised: Jade Cooper-Orton of Cornwall Council, Egle Gieneikiene of Milton Keynes Council.

Other awards on the night were as follows:

Governance Lawyer/Team of the Year (sponsored by Veale Wasbrough Vizards)

• Winner: The Governance Team at City of Wolverhampton Council.

Litigation Lawyer/Team of the Year (sponsored by CaseLines)

• Winner: The Litigation Team at Sheffield City Council.
• Highly Commended: Katrina Hulatt, Milton Keynes Council.

Zabina Bi, Junior Lawyer of the Year

People Related Lawyer/Team of the Year (sponsored by Weightmans)

• Winner: Brett Davies, Wakefield Council.
• Highly Commended: Lara MacNab, Warwickshire Legal Services.

Place Related Lawyer/Team of the Year (sponsored by the Law Society)

• Winner: The Places Legal Team at Telford & Wrekin Council.
• Highly Commended: The Regeneration & Development Team at Southwark Council.

Project Lawyer/Team of the Year (sponsored by Anthony Collins Solicitors)

• Winner: The Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership.
• Highly Commended: The Legal Team at Newark & Sherwood District Council.

CILEx Lawyer of the Year (sponsored by CILEx and Hoopers)

• Winner: Sheila Teli, the London Borough of Hackney.
• Highly Commended: The Property Law Team at Wakefield Council; Robert Baldwin, City of Wolverhampton Council; Nikki Fonseca, nplaw; David House, Warwickshire Legal Services; Celia Marks, Manchester City Council.

Business Manager/Team of the Year (sponsored by Thomson Reuters)

• Winner: The Practice Management Team at LGSS Law.
• Highly Commended: The Finance and Systems Support Team, Warwickshire Legal Services.

The awards ceremony was hosted by BBC journalist Clive Myrie and took place at the Macdonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham.

Suki Binjal, President of Lawyers in Local Government, which organises the awards, said: "The LLG Awards 2017 was a fantastic success in showcasing the very best in local authority legal talent, together with providing an evening for colleagues to come together and celebrate their achievements. A huge congratulations to the winners and to all finalists who demonstrated the vitally important role lawyers in local government play in their authorities every day."

Sarah Duxbury, Head of Law & Governance at Warwickshire County Council, said: "We were thrilled to win this award which is a real testament to the commitment and talent of our team. This comes at an important time for us. Warwickshire is investing in its legal service and the recent launch of our new ABS provides a platform for the team to demonstrate its award winning expertise to a broader range of customers."