Young solicitors shine in awards

Three solicitors from London and the north-west were joined by a team of City lawyers in winning this year's top awards for pro bono work.The awards, sponsored by the Young Solicitors Group and the Gazette, went to: Hilary Ford of City firm Lovells in the large firm category; Lawrie Simanowitz of Bates Wells & Braithwaite in London in the medium-sized firm section; Amjad Malik of Bhatti Solicitors in Manchester in the small-firm category; and the team from City-based Ashurst Morris Crisp.The four-year qualified Ms Ford is a litigator.

She was honoured for her voluntary work as an advisor to the Independent Panel for Special Education Advice.

Mr Simanowitz has been qualified for only eight months.

He practises in employment and immigration law and won the award for his voluntary work at the South Westminster Legal Advice Centre.Mr Malik qualified in 1999 and now specialises in immigration work.

He won his award for his wide-ranging and high-profile work at a Citizen's Advice Bureau in Oldham.

He also provides pro bono advice on a BBC Radio West Yorkshire 'phone-in programme.

Last December, he won the Gazette-sponsored young lawyer human rights award, organised by Justice and Liberty.The Ashurst Morris Crisp team has been involved since November 1999 in working at Toynbee Hall in London's East End, one of the oldest free legal advice centres in the country.

In the past year, 31 fee-earners from the firm have worked there, 16 of whom are young solicitors.Regional awards also went to: Asama Javed of McManus Seddon in Bradford, Alasdair Outhwaite of Addleshaw Booth & Co in Manchester, Naim Qureshi of KE Davies in Middlesex, and Kate Emore of Patterson Sebastian & Co in London.Jonathan Ames