The dinner, which took place at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, is the Society's flagship social event, this year attracting around 100 guests including Jonathan Smithers, President of the Law Society of England and Wales, as guest of honour.
The awards were jointly presented by Lauren Lieser from sponsors Geodesys, providers of conveyancing searches and reports for residential and commercial properties and land, and retiring CDLS president Will Cowell. The winners of the two CDLS awards were Caroline Dye of Jeffrey Mills Solicitors, who won Trainee Lawyer of the Year, and Hannah Postle of Hewitsons who was crowned Newly Qualified Lawyer of the Year. Alongside the Society’s Excellence Awards, honours were also presented to the two university award winners: Cambridge University’s student award was won by Jemima Love, while Sarah Branwhite picked up the award for Anglia Ruskin University.
All CDLS members who are Solicitors, Barristers, Legal Executives, or Licensed Conveyancers, or who are training to qualify as such, are eligible for nomination for the CDLS Awards. The awards are judged anonymously based on nominations from candidates' firms or faculties, which include details of the skills and achievements for which they are nominated.
Will Cowell said: “This year’s entries were of a particularly high standard, and it is testament to the ongoing strength of the legal community in Cambridge – both academic and professional - that these awards go from strength-to-strength. Each of our winners thoroughly deserves their prize having fought off considerable competition, and we hope they all go on to have - or to continue – successful legal careers."
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