THE SHORTLIST for the Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards 2011 has been announced.

The cream of the region’s  legal talent will be competing for honours at the awards dinner at Birmingham’s ICC on Thursday March 24 March, when the guest speaker will be political veteran Paddy Ashdown.

Competing for the key prize in the larger law firm category are Browne Jacobson, , DLA Piper, Eversheds, HBJ Gateley Wareing, and Higgs & Sons.

Last year, Birmingham firm Anthony Collins dominated  the event, 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.

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 shortlisted nominees this year are:

Assistant/Associate Solicitor of the year

Faizal Bhana Browne Jacobson LLP
David Brammer DLA Piper UK LLP
Julia Jones Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP
Mushtaq Khan HBJ Gateley Wareing LLP
Christopher Towle Wragge and Co LLP

Barrister of the Year

Duncan Bagshaw St Philips Chambers
Paul Bleasdale QC No5 Chambers
Elizabeth Isaacs St Ive’s Chambers
Mark Jones St Ive’s Chambers
David Lock No5 Chambers

International Lawyer of the Year

William Barker Martineau
Alias Dass Dass Solicitors
Mark Jones St Ive’s Chambers
Paul Knight Clarke Willmott LLP
Ellen Windsor Ellen Windsor

Law Firm of the Year (16 partners plus)

Browne Jacobson LLP
DLA Piper UK LLP
Eversheds LLP
HBJ Gateley Wareing LLP
Higgs & Sons Solicitors

Law Firm of the Year (5-15 partners)

Buller Jeffries
Jonas Roy Bloom
Sydney Mitchell
Williamson & Soden
Wood Glaister Partnership

Law Firm of the Year (sole practitioners and firms up to 4 partners)

Dass Solicitors
Price Mistry Solicitors
The College of Law
The John Hughes Law Practice Limited
TRP Solicitors

Legal Executive of the Year

Ann-Marie Aston Williamson & Soden
Paul Chaplin Robin Simon LLP
Justine Oliver-Ward Regulatory Legal LLP
Norman Rea Sydney Mitchell
Jo Wright Buller Jeffries

Partner of the Year

Derek Adamson, Buller Jeffries
Andrew Manning Cox, Wragge & Co LLP
Marc Saunderson, Mills & Reeve LLP
Michael Ward, HBJ Gateley Wareing LLP
Denise Watkins, Gordon Jones & Co

Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year

Inez Brown, Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP
Ruth Creed, Mills & Reeve LLP
Sarah Huntbach, Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP
Julia Jones, Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP
Rebecca Parker, The College of Law

Pupil Barrister

Joseph Millington St Philips Chambers
Davinia Riley St Philips Chambers
Katy Vernon-Asimeng St Philips Chambers

Trainee Solicitor of the Year

Oyinade Adebiyi, HBJ Gateley Wareing LLP
Ben Griffin, Cobbetts LLP
Cynyr Rhys, Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP
Linden Thomas, Martineau
James Woolstenhulme, Shakespeare Putsman LLP