Five solicitors have been shortlisted for the Gazette’s Legal Personality of the Year Award, with the winner to be announced at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards ceremony in October.

The quintet are: Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and a prominent advocate on behalf of legal aid lawyers; Des Collins, a civil litigator who brought a high-profile successful negligence claim against Corby Borough Council, acting for children who suffered birth defects; Sandie Okoro, global general counsel at Barings Asset Management who has used her position to drive innovation among private practice firms; family lawyer Christina Blacklaws, respected commentator on family justice; and Bernard Shepherd, high-profile president of the West Midlands Association of Law Societies.

For the complete Excellence Awards shortlist visit the Law Society website.