YOUNG LAWYERS PRO BONO AWARDS 2007 WINNERS

15 November 2007

The outstanding achievements of young lawyers throughout England and Wales were celebrated at the ninth annual Young Lawyer Pro Bono Awards in London last night.

Andrew Phillips, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, presented the awards at the Law Society. He commended the nominees for their commitment to pro bono work and emphasised that giving something back to the community through Pro Bono work has been a time honoured tradition and an important part of being a lawyer. 

Awards were made in the following categories:

·       Junior Lawyer working in-House

·       Junior Lawyer working in a small firm

·       Junior Lawyer working in a large firm

·       Trainee Solicitor Award

·       Team of Junior Lawyers

·       Law Student Award

Kevin Poulter, Chair of the Judges and the Organising Committee said:

“The level of innovation and dedication demonstrated by many junior lawyers is remarkable as is exemplified by the commitment demonstrated by this year’s winners. Our congratulations go to all those nominated. Their commitment and enthusiasm is outstanding and we hope that they will continue not only to undertake pro bono, but to inspire others to do so.”

The Winners:

Francesca Debenham – In House Category

Francesca is a solicitor in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department within the Government Legal Service which she took up on qualification in 2006. Since 2005 she has provided pro bono advice at the Tonybee Hall Legal Advice Centre and is a member of the Free Representation Unit.  Frankie’s commitment to her pro bono clients saw her assist one Bangladeshiman earning only £150 per week in a claim which she took through the employment tribunals and secured a financial award of £23,000.

Fflur Jones – Small Firm Award

Fflur’s early career saw her working in Westminster and Cardiff as a policy co-ordinator for Plaid Cymru.  She qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and joined Darwin Gray as an employment solicitor.

Fflur’s pro bono activity has seen her volunteer with Asylum Justice, a registered charity providing free legal advice and representation to asylum seekers.  She has co-ordinated training courses on asylum law for other practitioners, written articles to promote the work of Asylum Justice on top of advising those individuals who come to the charity for assistance from its home in a church in Cardiff.  Fflur has recognised where pro bono advice is most needed and is there to provide it now and develop ways to ensure that the service is expanded and recognized as far and wide as possible.

Jared Genser – Large Firm Award (in memory of Nick Webber)

In the past year Jared has led several major pro bono projects worldwide and has completed more than 600 hours of pro bono work.  Significant work has been projects calling for the United Nations Security Council to act in response to the dire human rights situation in North Korea which saw Jared participate in outreach events in Tokyo, Seoul, Geneva and Washington.  Outstanding work was also undertaken in calling on the UN to take action in Burma where Jared continued a chronicle the deterioration of human rights in this troubled nation.  He took the message to World Leaders and succeeded in placing Burma on the agenda for the first time in history.

Katie Hutt – Trainee Award

Katie has played an integral part in the development of Advocates for International Development, a new charity established in 2006 which has quickly become a leader in the provision of international pro bono assistance.  Katie became a member of the Board of A4ID as a Trainee in 2006, the youngest Director.  She managed and oganised the launch and addressed the audience of over 500 international representatives along with Lord Goldsmith.  She is a leader in A4ID's partnership with the Millennium Cities Initiative and has dedicated over 790 hours of her time to the development of A4ID.

Lovells LLP – Team of young solicitors

Since March 2007 four Lovell’s Trainees - Heather Gagen, Katalina Chin, Shrina Shah and Edward Mathison - have been assisting three visually impaired entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses.  Action for Blind People is a charity based in Bermondsey, south London.  Since 2005, Lovells have been providing pro bono advice to the charity’s business incubation site.  However, in spring 2007, some of these micro-business were encouraged to become autonomous companies.  Edward took it upon himself to co-ordinate this carve out and advise those individual businesses on the transfer.  Heather, Katalina and Shrina each took day to day responsibility for these businesses and have contributed in excess of 350 hours to this project to support three visually impaired individuals to operate their own privately owned enterprises.

Tariq Al-Mallak – Student Award

Tariq was educated in America where he trained as a biologist.  He came to the UK to train as a solicitor at the College of Law in London.  His commitment to social justice has seen him volunteer at the College’s legal advice centre whilst studying for his LPC.  He worked on 4 schemes and additionally volunteered at another local law centre.  What set Tariq apart was the time and commitment he gave to his pro bono activities, devoting his holidays and revision periods to helping others.  As only one example of many, his ability to speak Arabic saw him able to assist two Iraqi pensioners from the threat of eviction.

Since completing his LPC, Tariq has volunteered at a criminal defence firm here in London.