Awards Took Place On 11th October

The Yorkshire Legal Awards were a night to remember for law firm Irwin Mitchell as it scooped a hat-trick of awards.

The Awards, organised by Barker Brooks Communications, bring together the region’s legal community to recognise and celebrate its achievements. Around 900 legal professionals attended the Awards at New Dock Hall, presented by BBC Breakfast presenter Mike Bushell.

Award categories cover everyone from the biggest corporate firms to leading barristers, from senior partners to rising stars.

Against fierce competition, national law firm Irwin Mitchell won the Banking & Finance and Diversity & Inclusion categories. Head of the Workplace Illness team at the firm’s Leeds office, Ian Toft, was also named Partner of the Year 2018.

The Banking & Finance team and Restructuring and Insolvency teams from the Leeds and Sheffield offices, won the Banking & Finance award following a fantastic year of successes which included acting on numerous multi-million pound deals for clients including The Mayborn Group, RBS, Lloyds Bank, ICG Longbow, New Era Developments, and HSBC. The team acts both in respect of new funding but also restructuring work for its impressive roster of bank and funder clients.

The Diversity and Inclusion Award was won due to the firm’s work that included being one of the first law firms to introduce a policy to support and attract transgender employees, introducing blind recruitment for training contract applicants and our volunteering programme to support pupils in a deprived area of Sheffield.

Partner of the Year Ian Toft, who joined Irwin Mitchell in April 2008, was nominated for his pioneering work on two landmark mesothelioma case settlements. 

The first case saw an insurer agree to fund future immunotherapy through a consensual periodical payment order and the other built upon this and covered future unidentified treatments even when they not available at the time.

Andrew Merrick, the firm’s Chief Financial Officer and Regional Managing Partner in Leeds, was at the awards and said: 

Expert Opinion

“This is a huge achievement and it’s testament to the energy and talent within our teams at Irwin Mitchell.

“It’s great to see our people and the firm being recognised externally as there is a great deal of competition in the region. Well done to everyone involved on this massive team effort.” Andrew Merrick - Chief Financial Officer

In total the law firm was nominated in eight categories in total at the awards last night, including Family Law, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Private Client, Rising Star – Scott Halliday, and Trainee Solicitor – Dominic Riley.