Centenary awards

AWARD CATEGORIES

Best use of IT

Excellence in risk management, sponsor - PYV Professional Indemnity

Excellence in practice standards sponsor - Barclays

Best marketing campaign, sponsor - Countrywide Legal Indemnities

Best pro bono endeavour, sponsor - Scottish Widows Bank

Lifetime achievement in company/commercial work, sponsor - Legal Opportunities

Lifetime achievement in private client work, sponsor - Title Research

In-house lifetime achievement, sponsor - Hays ZMB

Lifetime achievement in human rights work

Most significant contribution to the law/legal profession in 2002/2003, sponsor - invaro

The Gazette Centenary Awards seek to recognise the contribution of individuals, law firms and in-house legal departments.

Entries are sought from firms, companies, in-house teams and individuals that can illustrate a significant contribution to the profession.

How entries will be judged

All entries will be judged by panels of respected key players in the legal profession, including the president, vice president and deputy-vice president of the Law Society, the Law Society's chief executive, the chief executive of the Bar Council and the secretary-general of the Institute of Legal Executives.

Other judges will include, the director of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, the chairman of the Law Society's law management section, the director of the Professional Marketing Forum, and the director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, as well as the director of the Law Society's representation and law reform directorate, its commercial services directorate, and the Editor of the Gazette.

Shortlists will be developed and will be publicised in the Gazette in the run-up to the awards, which will take place on the evening of 12 November at a ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Hyde Park, London.

All judges will review entries objectively and against the judging criteria.

It should be noted that the judges' decision is final and that no correspondence will be entered into.

How to enter

Once you have decided which award category or categories you wish to enter, you should contact Claire Baumforth for more details, tel: 020 7316 5608; e-mail: gazetteawards@lawsociety.org.uk for a nomination pack.

Closing date

The closing date for the awards is 1 September 2003.

All entries must be received in full by 5pm on this date.

Late entries will not be considered.

Confidentiality

All details of the shortlisted finalists and winners will appear in the Gazette.

Therefore, if you would like to keep information confidential, you should mark this clearly against the information which is supplied.

Awards presentation

The Gazette Centenary Awards dinner will take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Hyde Park, London, in the Nine Kings suite on 12 November 2003.

For additional information on the awards presentation, or to book a table, contact us, tel: 020 7316 5608; e-mail: gazetteawards@lawsociety.org.uk.

Honouring significant contribution to the legal profession

Most significant contribution to the law/legal profession in 2002/2003

This award will go to an individual from any of the three branches of the legal profession - solicitor, barrister or legal executive - or a member of the judiciary or a government minister, who has made a major and positive impact on either the law itself or on legal practice.

This could be in relation to a high-profile groundbreaking case, to a campaign for a change in the law, or to a development in the way lawyers practise.

Invaro

Invaro was formed in 2002.

It is an amalgam of several well-established business operations, and has within the past 12 months become one of the most exciting and fastest growing organisations in the UK.

By bringing together a dynamic blend of businesses such as a legal expense insurance company, a medical agency, and a fund management company, plus a national television campaign, invaro, with its dot dot i brand, is set to explode into a household name.

Based in Liverpool, invaro has a staff complement of more than 80 professionals from the legal, financial and medical arenas and has offices in London and around the world.

Its success has been impressive over the past 12 months with a very high case acceptance rate, and is even advising government departments on legal issues for the future.

But there is a lot more to invaro - its ability to create a caring service beyond general claims for the public is crucial.

With this in mind, invaro has created a network of strategic alliances and together with these household names aims to deliver a whole range of legal, financial and medical services to many thousands.

The invaro scheme presents your practice with a totally packaged solution to handle your client's personal injury claims with reasonable fees and the minimum of fuss and paperwork.

Tel: 0151 227 4492For more details, e-mail: enquiries@invaro.orgwww.invaro.org

Putting the spotlight on in-house lifetime achievement

In-house lifetime achievement, sponsored by Hays ZMB

This award will be open to individuals in any section of employed practice, whether commerce and industry, state prosecution, local or Westminster government.

The winner will be able to demonstrate a career of innovative and creative approaches to dealing with employers and outside providers of legal services.

Hays ZMB

For 12 years, Hays ZMB has been a market leader in legal recruitment.

Our success in that time has been based on our unique experience, market intelligence and sector knowledge.

Our business has grown in response to client demand and we now have more than 40 highly trained and qualified recruiters based across offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

We also have specialist legal consultants, working out of our international offices in Europe and Australasia.

Although we have grown rapidly, we have kept the personal touch and speed of response of a specialist consultancy.

At the same time, because we are part of Europe's leading specialist recruitment group Hays Personnel Services and its parent Hays PLC, we also enjoy the backing and resources of a top FTSE company.

For candidates, we provide friendly, authoritative and confidential advice about your career and access to the best jobs in the market.

For clients, our experience and pool of top-quality candidates mean we have an excellent track record in placing people in the right positions.

Tel: 020 7523 3838For more details, e-mail: info@hayszmb.co.ukwww.zureka.com