A TALENTED trainee lawyer at the Sheffield office of DLA Piper has become the latest recipient of a prestigious Law Society award aimed at recognising Sheffield's legal talent.
Chris Simkins, 26, received the Sidney Herbert Clay prize at the annual Sheffield Law Society dinner earlier this month. The award is given to the student who achieves the highest grade on the Legal Practice Course at the University of Sheffield, and then moves on to work within the Sheffield district.
Chris, who is currently working in the litigation team at the Sheffield office of the international legal practice as part of his two year training contract comments: "There appears to be a bit of a legacy developing at DLA Piper, with a trainee from the firm winning the Sidney Herbert Clay Prize each year - so I am really pleased to be keeping the tradition alive.
"I think it is great that awards like this exist in Sheffield - there is a real sense of pride about being part of the business community here and what Sheffield has to offer, which I definitely feel at DLA Piper, so it is nice to contribute to that in some way."
It is the sixth year in a row that a DLA Piper trainee has received the award, making the local law firm the longest running holders of the title.
Partner Duncan Mosley, who leads the trainee programme at DLA Piper in Sheffield comments; "DLA Piper has always been proud of its Sheffield roots, and we take our responsibility for nurturing the City's legal talent seriously - as they are the people who are going to drive our firm forwards and in turn, help drive the city forwards.
"It is for that reason that we are so proud to see six of our trainees in a row win the Sidney Herbert Clay prize. And we are even happier that all the winners are still part of the DLA Piper team in Yorkshire; Chris and three previous winners, David Beech, Robyn Palmer and Gemma Darwin are still with us in Sheffield. Patrick Allen, our first awardee, is now based in our Leeds office, whilst our 2007 winner, Mick Lawlor is currently on secondment with one of our clients in London. They are living proof that if you invest in local talent and recognise their achievements, it pays dividends for the future."
Chris received a cheque for £250 in recognition of his achievements from the legacy left to the Sheffield Law Society by Sidney Herbert Clay in 1947. Sidney was a local solicitor with offices in Sheffield and President of the local Law Society in 1937. He was a well known character in the local community, whose local standing and habit for poor time keeping meant his evening train would often wait for him to arrive at Sheffield station and even during his lifetime, he was known as 'the late Mr Clay'.

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