Around 400 members of the legal profession in Liverpool gathered at the Rum Warehouse for the Liverpool Law Society annual awards and dinner. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool Law Society has revealed the winners of its annual awards at a black tie dinner at the Rum Warehouse in the north docklands.

Around 400 guests from Liverpool’s legal profession gathered for the event. They heard from guest speaker Lord Burrows, Justice of the Supreme Court, who was educated in Knowsley. He gave a fascinating speech about his career in the law.

Eight awards were given out during the ceremony. President of Liverpool Law Society, Steven Zdolyny, said “Congratulations to all our award winners and shortlisted nominees.

“We are extremely proud to come together as a local legal community to celebrate the successes of some of the best talent the legal profession has to offer.”

Winners of Liverpool Law Society’s 2022 Legal Awards are:

• Law Firm Award (100+ employees) – Morecrofts Solicitors
• Law Firm Award (1-99 employees)- Astraea Linskills
• Outstanding Team Award (Litigation) – Provenio Litigation
• Outstanding Team Award (Non-Contentious) – In-House Legal Solutions
• Outstanding Lawyer Award – Paul Lunt from Brabners
• Highly Commended in the Outstanding Lawyer Award was Rachel Stalker from the Legal
• Advice Centre at Liverpool John Moores University
• Rising Star Award – Bella Tait from Unit Chambers

Alison Lobb, managing partner of Morecrofts Solicitors, said: “The fact that this is our first year in the larger firm category makes our success all the sweeter.

“Over the past year, we have worked hard to maintain our upward momentum and attract new clients and talent to the firm. This has seen growth across all areas of our business and allowed us to invest further in our staff.

“I congratulate every member of the Morecrofts family and I give my thanks for their continued efforts to ensure our firm remains one of the very best in the region.”

And Astraea Linskills chief executive, John-Paul Dennis, also said: “Winning the Law Firm of the year award is a fantastic accolade for Astraea Linskills.

READ MORE: Mersey tourism awards shortlist revealed

“It is testament to the incredibly hard work our entire team has put in through some of the most challenging of times.  We are a growing practice and this recognition is something we are very grateful to receive.”

And Mark Goodwin, founder and managing partner at Provenio Litigation, said: “We are thrilled to win this award – it is a real credit to the quality of our team and the complex, high value business litigation the firm is instructed on.

“When we launched the firm in 2019, our vision was to create the premier business litigation boutique outside London, using a team that all formerly worked together at DLA Piper in Liverpool.

“We have successfully implemented this strategy by attracting high value instructions, breaking into new areas of litigation, growing the business through a ground-breaking £50m litigation funding.”

There was also a collection for the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital charity. Sponsors of the evening included Advanced, Frenkel Topping Group, Index PI, Konsileo, Landmark Information and the University of Law.