And the winner is….ATLEU!

We are absolutely delighted to announce that we’ve won legal aid firm/not-for-profit agency at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards 2016 for our groundbreaking work with victims of trafficking.

At last night’s awards ceremony in London, we were surrounded by some of the most talented and courageous lawyers working in the UK today.  Our fellow nominees have transformed the lives of countless people, despite facing incredible odds. So we’re even more honoured that our achievements on behalf of victims of trafficking have been recognised.

Founding solicitor Victoria Marks said:

‘This award demonstrates the importance of collaboration and sheer tenacity in our sector. Without the help of our partners, funders and volunteers, who all help us to punch above our weight, we could not have achieved all we have. But we must remember that victims of trafficking still face major barriers to accessing justice and so we will continue to fight with them for as long as we can.'

Baroness Doreen Lawrence, OBE, presented the awards and made it clear that without legal aid, families like hers would never have been able to gain justice. And at the end of the evening, the Outstanding Achievement award went to the 12 teams of Hillsborough lawyers who worked for years to win justice for the families of the 96. Clearly, legal aid work has never been so fundamentally important to safeguarding the rights of vulnerable people in the UK.

We’d like to congratulate KRW Law for reaching the finals as a result of their vital human rights work in Northern Ireland. We are also extremely grateful to Paul Yates at Freshfields for nominating us for the award and everyone who endorsed us with their testimony.  However, most of all we have to thank our fellow nominees at the Islington Law Centre for their continual support over the past three years, without which we simply would not have survived.

Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards 2016 news release