The three winners from Anthony Collins Solicitors: Rankeshwar Batta, Rebecca Kershaw and Helen Tucker

ANTHONY Collins Solicitors dominated  the Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards, with the firm picking up three awards for the second year running.

Trainee solicitor Rebecca Kershaw won ‘Trainee Solicitor of the Year’, while Helen Tucker and Rankeshwar Batta walked away with the ‘Commercial Solicitor of the Year’ and ‘Private Client Solicitor of the Year’ titles respectively.

Alexandra Loxton, who won ‘Legal Executive of the Year’ at last year’s awards, was short-listed in the same category but was unable to retain her title. Instead, the award went to Cassandra Bates of Dass Solicitors.

Bernard Shepherd, president of Birmingham Law Society, said: “Anthony Collins Solicitors has proved itself to be a force to be reckoned with at the Legal Awards. Winning three awards in one year is an achievement but to then go and win three more the following year is fantastic.

“The judges were extremely impressed with the quality of their nominations, as well as the calibre of the people the firm put forward. The honours are richly deserved and both the winners and the firm can be proud of their achievements.”

But the night didn’t just belong to Anthony Collins Solicitors. Other winners included Laura Kearsley, from Weightmans, who won ‘Assistant/Associate Solicitor of the Year’; Nageena Khalique, of No5 Chambers, ‘Barrister of the Year’; and Steve Allen, of Mills & Reeve, who won the award for ‘International Solicitor of the Year’.

Blair Allison Family Law Solicitors won ‘Law Firm of the Year (sole practitioner to four partners)’, while Lanyon Bowdler and Pinsent Masons won ‘Law Firm of the Year (five to 15 partners)’ and ‘Law Firm of the Year (16 partners or more)’ respectively.

The winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges, chaired by former national Law Society president Kevin Martin. They were announced at a ceremony at the ICC, which more than 500 people attended.

Mr Shepherd said: “Given the current market conditions there were calls for us to not hold the awards this year. However, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors and the backing of the legal and business community we managed to put on another fantastic event, with one of the highest attendances for a number of years.”

Sponsors included DX Group (main sponsor), Birmingham City Council Legal Services, Chiltern Railways, The College of Law, Deloitte, Giles Insurance Brokers, Landmark Information Group, No5 Chambers, Stratstone Lotus, Severn Trent Searches, St Philips Chambers and Wesleyan for Lawyers.

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