The legal team that spent five years battling to free solicitor Sally Clark from prison was last week honoured at the Gazette's Centenary Awards.

Her husband Steve Clark, a partner at City firm Ashurst Morris Crisp, south London solicitor John Batt of Batt Holden, and Mike Mackey, senior partner of Manchester firm Burton Copeland, won the award for the most significant contribution to the law and/or legal profession in 2002/3.

In January, the Court of Appeal quashed Ms Clark's conviction for killing her two baby sons on the grounds that the prosecution failed to disclose to the jury a vital microbiology report which showed that the death of Harry, her second son, could have been caused by a bacterial infection.

Ms Clark was at the dinner in London to see her team pick up the award from BBC broadcaster John Humphrys.

More than 500 people attended the dinner.

Winners of lifetime achievement awards were: Geoffrey Bindman of London's Bindman & Partners (human rights), Susie Flook of Body Shop International (in-house), Guildford sole practitioner Jennifer Margrave (private client), and David Pullen, a partner at City firm Richards Butler (company/commercial).

The firm winners were: Liverpool firm Legal Risk (excellence in risk management), City firm DLA (excellence in practice standards), City firm Addleshaw Goddard (best use of IT) and City firm Eversheds (best marketing campaign).

Gazette editor Jonathan Ames said: 'These awards illustrate the wide-ranging and crucial work that solicitors in England and Wales are involved in for the benefit of both business and society as a whole.

They also show the huge advances law firms are making in practice management.

'The event itself was a stunning success and we hope to be able to recognise outstanding work in the profession again in the future.'

See the awards supplement (included with printed edition in [2003] Gazette, 20 November)

By Neil Rose