The in-house legal team at Barclays Bank and the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) scooped the two main prizes at this year's Solicitors Race Equality Awards.

Three law firms and a law centre also picked up awards at the ceremony last week in London, which was jointly sponsored by the Commission for Racial Equality and the Law Society.


Barclays' legal team was awarded one of the outstanding contribution to race equality awards for its policy of promoting diversity through procurement of legal services by seeking evidence of tendering firms' equality policies. The BSN took the other outstanding contribution award for working with law firms to provide career development and training for black lawyers. The network also published the first diversity league tables of law firms.


Nottingham-based Paragon Law won the best employer award in the small to medium-sized law firm category, while Wragge & Co of Birmingham picked up the same award in the large firm category.


Coventry Law Centre was the winner of the best race equality initiative in the small to medium category for its recent high-profile campaign to raise awareness of discrimination issues among the local community. City law firm Lovells won the best initiative award in the large practice category for its pro bono work with young people, especially Muslims.


Presenting the awards, commission chairman Trevor Phillips praised the solicitors' profession for the progress it had made in the area of diversity. 'The Law Society has demonstrated its seriousness in relation to this issue, and that is not something I get to say too often about a professional body,' he said.


Jonathan Ames