20:20 vision earns lawyer top in-house award
TOM Wescott, head of legal at Cheshire-based mobile phone distributor, Brightstar 20:20, has been crowned In House Lawyer of the Year at the annual North West In-House Legal Awards.
Mr Wescott’s department was at the heart of the action as the Crewe-based business, previously known as 20:20 Mobile was acquired by US company Brightstar in February.
The event, which is run by the Law Society’s regional commerce and industry group, is now in its fourth year and is designed to honour the achievements of lawyers working in-house at businesses across the region.
Around 400 people attended the awards at the Hilton Hotel which raised £25,000 for Cancer Research.
Other winners on the night included Jennifer Tucker from Balfour Beatty Construction Services UK who was named Young In House Lawyer of the Year and Odeon Cinema which took home the In House team of the year accolade.
Online fashion retailer boohoo.com, which made its debut on the stock market in March with a market capitalisation of £560m, won the In House Deal of the Year with general counsel and company secretary Louise Fishwick collecting the award on behalf of the Manchester-based company.
Ed Smethurst, who has chaired the Law Society’s Commerce & Industry Group North West for the last two decades, was honored with a special lifetime achievement award.
He said: “It is a complete surprise and for once I am completely lost for words. I am really touched and honored to receive this award.”
Paul Jonson, managing partner at main sponsor Pannone Corporate, said: “Once again the award ceremony was an excellent event and we were delighted to be the headline sponsor. It was very rewarding to see in house lawyers and legal teams from some UK’s biggest brands honored for their achievements.”
