Legal personality of the year 2011

I am Treasurer of SAHCA and I think the judges should also consider Jo Cooper, for his leadership of SAHCA for the last two years and as an outspoken supporter of solicitor advocacy at a very difficult time for the profession. The latest assault comes in the form of a quality assurance scheme which will cut many solicitors out of higher court advocacy. Jo has been an early and vocal critic of the scheme, whilst accepting the need for quality assurance in some form. He has been tireless in standing up to Legal Services Board and SRA, and in seeking to mobilise the Law Society over an issue which at times no-one but SAHCA appear to have regarded as central. Judges and barristers have taken turns to sound off and there have been anecdotes in abundance, but Jo has been measured, steady and persistent in spelling out the realities of the scheme and promoting a different view of solicitor advocacy through a variety of media.

At a time of regulatory and financial chaos, Jo has also been prepared to engage and make new links with forces long considered hostile to solicitors – particularly Bar institutions, regulators and some judges – to challenge their assumptions and to argue for a bigger picture fostering the diversity that comes with solicitor advocacy. He has also reached across to other representative organisations to make common cause over issues which affect, for example, sole practitioners, criminal litigators and others.

During the two years he has also been prepared to roll up his sleeves and get on with advocacy teaching for us, and he presided over our first annual SAHCA memorial lecture given by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge in March 2011 in a packed RCJ. Jo has also developed and championed SAHCA’s pro bono output. He will be in Tanzania in September leading the teaching for the third year of our international pro bono advocacy project, which is for 250 young lawyers in Dar es Salaam. This was originally proposed as a one off event but he insisted it should run for a minimum of four years with a commitment to expanding local capacity so that it is progressively taken over entirely by local trainers.

Jo has used his influence internationally in a series of trips to eastern Europe, Asia and Africa on behalf of The Law Society, The British East West Foundation and SAHCA itself, dealing with specific legal and practical issues in emerging countries – such as giving workshops on legal ethics to groups of Belarus and Russian judges, or speaking in the Kazakhastan parliament about prosecution disclosure in terror cases. He also played a part in the campaign to release the US lawyer Professor Peter Erlinder from custody after his arrest in Rwanda for associating himself too vocally with the case of his client at ICTR. These are all important issues, but being there on behalf of our profession, and particularly the distinctive voice of our solicitors profession, sends an important message.

I am nominating David Allen Green for the award of Legal Personality of the Year 2011. He is head of media practice at Preiskel &Co, and without doubt a fine lawyer, but I am nominating him for the Personality Award for his impressive presence and legal voice, principally in social media.

David is a prolific blogger, in his own name, in his Jack of Kent blog and in his contribution to the New Statesman. He is a writer and also a regular on the legal podcast ‘Without Prejudice'. He is a very influential legal voice in social media with huge following.

David was shortlisted for the George Orwell blogging prize and named as a leading innovator in journalism and media. He consistently communicates technical legal knowledge and political insight with boldness, sensitivity and razor sharp humour.

There can be few ‘legals’ venturing into social media, from students to judges, who do not sign up to David's blog and twitter accounts.

He is without doubt a huge legal personality who puts legal debate and leads lawyers to the heart of the now dominant social media culture.

I would like to support the nomination for Dean Parnell, partner at Sydney Mitchell.

It is unclear whether candidates are assessed on the last 12 months or over a longer term. I am assuming "Legal Personality of the Year" is based upon the last 12 months otherwise it would come under the lifetime achievement award.

I shall base my nomination on the last 12 months, and I would endorse what has already been said about Dean by the other nominations. I have found him an inspiration and during his presidency he made me realise the importance of being part of a legal community (both local and national). Over the last 12 months I have taken far more interest in the issues affecting our profession than I ever did before. Lawyers are often detached from each other and the issues affecting our profession so to have someone that ignites interest in these matters is very important.

Dean's performance over the last 12 months has far exceeded what anyone would have expected from a president of a local law society. BLS has gone through some really tough times yet it seems that through Dean's leadership and personality the whole society has been lifted into a new era. From hearing him speak on a number of public occasions I have been really impressed. He has a relaxed charm which I have found very engaging and whilst he tackles the many relevant issues with great skill and passion, he does not seem to take tickets on himself which I personally find very refreshing.

I have read the other nominations for Dean and they seem to have recorded his achievements quite nicely. All I can really add is that as somebody who has historically had very little to do with Birmingham Law Society I have been impressed by Dean and what he has to say and in my view he has made a difference.

Although this category is "Legal Personality of the Year" rather than "Solicitor of the Year " I do think it is worth mentioning very briefly that Dean's success is not just limited to his time as president. He jointly heads up a very successful litigation department at Sydney Mitchell which is recognised as punching above its weight and Dean is regarded by many as being a very talented litigation lawyer.

In terms of the man, he is very understated and comes across as a genuinely nice chap. He is bright, creative (in a good way!), sharp as a button and a gentleman. He has a great personality and would make a worthy and popular winner.

I have know Dean in my professional capacity as Corporate Director of Governance of Birmingham City Council and as the President of the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors 2009/2010.

Dean is, without doubt, a great ambassador for the legal profession, the Birmingham legal community and Birmingham. I am, therefore, delighted to support Chris Owen's nomination and I know that Dean will make an excellent choice as Law Society's Personality of the Year.

I wish to nominate Vanessa Lloyd Platt for The Gazette Legal Personality of the Year 2011. Vanessa Lloyd Platt has been a matrimonial solicitor for over thirty years and has, I believe, the qualities to represent all that exemplifies the right family lawyer.

For many years Vanessa has appeared on national television, on all the various news channels – BBC News, Sky, ITV, Channel Five, Channel Four as well as numerous discussion programmes to analyse, explain and debate family law issues.

She has taken extremely complex legal principles and converted them into normal everyday language that clients and members of the public can easily understand. She has been able to think on her feet during interviews to explain matters so simplistically that many of her expressions have been utilised by solicitors and barristers alike in future cases.

Vanessa also regularly features on radio broadcasts up and down the country and abroad. Again she is the first choice for most of the media for quotes on family law principles and on media cases that have exploded into the Press. She is uniquely approachable and has turned the image of a stuffy uncommunicative lawyer into one where clients feel they know her and can easily talk to her to obtain legal advice. Her regularly monthly phone in both on the Sky Channel Money programme and the Wright Stuff have allowed hundreds of people to seek firm, sensible, simple advice from her which have changed their lives.

Vanessa believes in an innovative approach to family law and has over the years been responsible with her team for pushing the boundaries of family law. She was adamant that the law in relation to cohabitation and children should change and against all opposition she was responsible for formulating the principles for Re P (a Child) that has now gone on to form the cornerstone of the law in relation to cohabitation. She has helped to formulate the law in relation to short marriages, the definition of compensation, and the law in relation to post marital assets.

She is also the face of commentaries for some of the most high profile divorces in the country namely the case of Parlour, Madonna, Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, and many other such high profile cases.

Her love of the law is inspirational to young lawyers who are just starting out in the profession and her book on “Secrets of Relationship Success” has also been a discussion point in universities and colleges across the country.

Vanessa is an inspiration to all Family Lawyers and after many years of working long hours and helping so many people, her efforts should now be rewarded. Accordingly I believe she is eminently suitable to be the Legal Personality of the Year 2011 and hope that this nomination will be carefully considered.

I'sd like to nominate Julian Young for going the extra mile in the interests of justice. This is what The Guardian newspaper had to say about him
Julian Young, senior partner at a London law firm, said he had gone 38
hours without sleep at one stage this week, having represented
defendants at Westminister magistrates court through Wednesday night.
"It was organised chaos," he said.

"Only the professionalism of the CPS, lawyers, district judges and court
staff kept it going. Everyone was very tired and the chance of not
appreciating an issue, detail or fact was much higher."

Defendants, many aged 14-25, and also short of sleep, were being "asked
to make decisions that might affect the rest of their lives and consider
and decide complex issues", said Young. "I can understand society wants
matters dealt with as swiftly as possible but we cannot sacrifice
justice on the altars of speed and expediency."

I would like to nominate Jonathan Bishop LLM who runs the website: jonathanbishop.eu

In the last year Jonathan has done the following:
1) As Company Secretary of a social enterprise he has updated all its policies to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and in expanding the business into R&D has developed strong protection policies for research data and participant information.
Website: http://www.glamorgan.coop
2) Volunteered for Google's Vark giving advice to members of the public on legal issues.
Website: http://www.vark.com
3) Been prominent in the academic world of law having publications published in the International Review of Law, Computers and Technology and books by IGI Global.
Website: http://www.selivcel.co.uk
4) Been active in explaining the law to the public on his blog.
Website: http://www.jonathanbishop.eu/

From this you can see he has worked tirelessly to explain the law to others and has gone some way to dispelling myths and uncertainties about EU and ECHR Law and the laws in the UK to implement them.

I would like to nominate Musa Mwenye who is the Managing Partner at Musa Mwenye-Advocates

Musa is a young dynamic, hardworking and honest lawyer. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Zambia, Solicitor in England and Wales and currently the youngest President ever of the Law Association of Zambia.
In 2008 upon return from the United Kingdom Musa founded Musa Mwenye-Advocates and one of the firm’s core values is integrity all in an effort to clear the damaged image of the legal profession. Within a short period of time Musa Mwenye-Advocates has become one of only 8 Zambian Law firms that are fully ranked by Chambers Global. Musa Mwenye together with one of his Partners Eddie Mwitwa have been ranked in band of top litigators. The comments in Chambers Global are that:-
“Sources are full of praise for this relatively new but rapidly expanding team, which is building a strong reputation for litigation in particular. Its clients include NGOs and major domestic industrial and financial institutions. Sources say: "They are defined by their integrity, and really go the extra mile to offer the necessary support to the client." Musa Mwenye is a litigator of considerable talent who is also skilled in arbitration. Sources describe him as "charismatic, knowledgeable and pragmatic."

In a society where lawyers are known for their crookedness, Musa has proved himself as a Lawyer of high integrity. This reputation has earned him foreign clients who come into the country as expatriates or investors whom he has helped through the difficult, strict but corrupt immigration process.

Musa is bold and not afraid of speaking the truth. The truth which he speaks is the law as it is. This honesty earned him overwhelming support during the Law of Association of Zambia Presidential elections, that despite his young age, he was voted as President of the Law Association of Zambia.

In the few months that he has held the position, he has without fear given a voice to the voiceless majority and brought legal clarity to the challenges being faced by the country.

Ideally, a Law Society of any country is supposed to give a voice to the written law of the land. If it doesn’t, it becomes a weak Law Society. In any case, the role of the law in society has always been that of solving problems and bringing equality where there is inequality. Whenever a country is facing debates of national interest, a Law Society should come in to state what the law is on the issue so that the citizen clearly understand and demand to be ruled by law and not by man. A case in point, among the many debates Zambia is facing as it is going towards the General Elections is the fact that some sectors of the country decided to formulate a Parallel Vote Tabulation. The Laws of Zambia do not prohibit or make it an offence but the government stated that it is wrong. In his capacity as Law Association of Zambia President, Musa has without fear, clearly stated what the law is and cleared the situation. In an interview, Musa stated that:

“ ……If we have to choose between diplomacy and clarity, we would rather choose clarity, whether it benefits the ruling or the opposition party at the time……”

It takes a lot of courage, integrity and boldness to make such a statement.
This has is in turn earned the Law Association and the legal profession respect.

As the old saying about Lawyers goes “Lawyers are not interested in the justice of the people but only interested in the justice of their pockets”

Musa has shown that indeed there are genuine and honest lawyers.

There is absolutely no doubt that at the end of his tenure as President, the Legal Profession and the Law Association, not only in Zambia but also in Africa and the world over will be given a new admirable face. By being honest and bold, Musa is in turn advocating for the respect and protection of Human Rights, the upholding of the rule of law, accountability and democracy. Musa currently stands as a beacon of light and a pillar of hope for societies worldwide by renewing the faith of people in the Justice System.

I would like to nominate Clive Stafford Smith, founder and Director of Reprieve, for the Legal Personality of the Year 2011 Award.

Clive has devoted his life to enforcing the human rights of those who most need his help: prisoners on death row and those held beyond the rule of law in America’s secret prisons. While Clive insists that his work is a privilege rather than a sacrifice; his zeal is humbling. He is frequently David to the UK Governments’ Goliath working, often successfully, with a handful of lawyers and limited resources. It is hard to imagine how anyone could do more to deserve honour for his work.

Over 25 years, Clive has represented over 300 prisoners facing the death penalty in the United States. While he only took on the cases of those who could not afford a lawyer – he has never been paid by a client – and always the most despised, he prevented in the death penalty in all but six cases (a 98% “victory” rate). Few lawyers ever take a case to the US Supreme Court – Clive has taken five, and all of the prisoners prevailed. Clive returned to the UK in 2004, and continues with this work, currently helping over 70 people on death row in 16 different countries.

Most recently Clive has embarked on a radical new effort to support Islamabad based lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar. Mirza gathers evidence of unlawful killings by US drones and represents the families of innocent victims, his first case being filed against the head of the CIA who soon afterwards left Pakistan. There are thought to be at least 2,283 innocent people who have so far been killed by un-manned drones and with President Obama authorising more attacks this past May, deaths are on the rise. Clive describes this new work as the ‘next Guantanamo’, a project that will take years to establish and investigate but one which is incredibly important to take on. For families who have lost loved ones, seeking justice must not mean joining the Taliban or suffering in silence. Clive is still advocating for and implementing the rule of law where it is most needed, still envisioning on a mammoth scale.

In 2001, when the US military base at Guantánamo Bay began holding prisoners beyond the reach of the courts, Clive joined two other lawyers to sue for access to the prisoners held there. He believed that the camp was an affront to the democracy and the rule of law: his ultimate goal was to close Guantánamo and restore legitimacy to the US and its allies as champions of human rights. It is easy to forget the death threats that Clive received during those early days, labelled a “traitor” for defending “terrorists”; it was three years before the Supreme Court allowed lawyers into the prison camp.

Meanwhile, Clive travelled the Middle East to find the families of the ‘disappeared’ prisoners, undeterred by the interventions by unhappy US allies -- including the Jordanian secret police, who took him into custody in 2004.

To date, Clive has helped secure the release of 65 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay (including every British prisoner) and acts for 15 more. This is a phenomenal number – far more than any other lawyer or law firm - and demonstrates Clive’s peerless ability in his field. More recently, Clive has turned a strategic eye to other secret detention sites, including Bagram in Afghanistan and the British island of Diego Garcia.

Clive’s unique approach has exposed injustice on a global scale. The roster of his cases includes Binyam Mohamed, exposing the British complicity in the American abuse of his client.

Since 2004 Clive has been -- sequentially – recognized as a Soros Senior Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow and a Rowntree Visionary. In 2010 he won the Judges' Special Beacon Prize for Outstanding Philanthropic achievement – the “Nobel Prize of the charity world”. These awards are given to role models who surpass the rest in their impact and dedication.