Rewarding diversity

The winners of this year's gazette-sponsored Young Solicitors Group Pro Bono Awards demonstrate the diversity of free work carried out by young lawyers, reports Jonathan Ames

This year's Young Solicitors Group Pro Bono Awards, sponsored by the Gazette, well illustrates the wide variety of work being done in this field by practitioners.As in past years, there were three main awards - for work done from small firms, medium-sized firms, large firms - as well as one for pro bono work carried out by a team from a single practice.The awards were presented by the immediate past President of the Law Society, Michael Napier, in a ceremony at Chancery Lane (see [2001] Gazette, 12 July, 6).This year's small firm winner was Amjad Malik of Bhatti Solicitors in Manchester.

The Young Solicitors Group award has been added to a Human Rights prize Mr Malik scooped last December from Liberty and Justice in awards which are also sponsored by the Gazette.Mr Malik only qualified in 1999 and started his pro bono career while still a trainee.

Much of his voluntary work has been in the immigration field.

Mr Malik has acted for a Muslim Imam from Oldham who is fighting a deportation order from the UK.

The case is now awaiting reserved judgment from the House of Lords.For more than a year Mr Malik has conducted free weekend advice surgeries at Bhatti.

During that time he has seen more than 150 clients.

And nearly a year ago Mr Malik joined the BBC's Radio West Yorkshire, providing pro bono legal advice to callers once a week.Taking this year's medium-sized firm award was Lawrie Simanowitz of Bates Wells & Braithwate in London, who, at eight months, has been qualified even less time than Mr Malik.Mr Simanowitz currently volunteers at the South Westminster Legal Advice Centre in London where, as a trainee, he was one of the first advisers to join when it opened in 1998.

He attends a minimum of one advice session a week at Westminster.

The centre deals with up to 30 clients an evening, with enquiries covering housing, employment, family and crime.

Mr Simanowitz focuses on employment cases and he is also a member of the centre's board of trustees.Lovells's Hilary Ford, a four-year qualified solicitor, took this year's award for work done from a large firm.Ms Ford volunteers as a tribunal adviser for the Independent Panel for Special Education Advice, which provides support for parents of children with special educational needs, particularly those with physical disabilities, sensory impairment and emotional and behavioural difficulties.Ms Ford, who has undertaken 145 hours of pro bono work in the last year, regularly conducts cases before the special educational needs tribunal and currently has a 90% success rate.Taking the prize for pro bono work conducted by a team of solicitors from the same firm was City practice Ashurst Morris Crisp.

The team volunteers to assist Toynbee Hall in London's East End, which provides free legal advice to the community and is one of the oldest centres of its kind in the country, having being founded in 1898.During the past year, 31 fee-earners from the firm have attended.

The young solicitor contingent consists of: Anu Balasubramanian, Zoe Ballantyne, Dominic Batchelor, Sadia McEvoy, Paddy Boyle, Andrew Coop, Alex Cox, Jo Enright, Ivor Williams, Eva Kakaire, Steve Ketteley, Michael Lancaster, Belinda Moffat, Kate Sandison, James Trafford and Crowley Woodford.This year, a special YSG award was presented to Ashursts' Belinda Moffat 'for her outstanding contribution to pro bono'.

During the last year, Ms Moffat has worked as one of six legal representatives for 31 Trinidadian death row prisoners who have made applications to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

She has direct responsibility for the supervision of seven death row appeals and retrials in Trinidad and Jamaica.