Leading Essex law firm wins two prestigious awards in one week
Triumphant lawyers from Fisher Jones Greenwood LLP in Colchester received national recognition last week for their outstanding work in the community by winning two major awards.
The firm not only scooped the solicitors’ category in the prestigious Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year
awards, but also won the Business in the Community East of England Leadership Award for Pro Bono Company of the Year. Both awards were made in recognition of Fisher Jones Greenwood’s pioneering ‘Tendring Outreach Project’ which provides essential legal advice on welfare issues to vulnerable people living in the Tendring area.
Senior Partner Tony Fisher said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won these awards which are an important recognition of our lawyers who have shown huge dedication in delivering the Tendring Outreach Project.”
He added: “There is growing awareness within the business world of the importance of social responsibility and ethical trading. Tendring Outreach enables us to put something back into the community utilising our skills. We have also been involved in establishing another innovative project, Lawyers for Young People, which is a national pilot of services to children in the care system. We are one of the few firms in the region which remain committed to social welfare areas of law.”
Lawyers from Fisher Jones Greenwood received their Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award from Cherie Booth QC at a glittering reception held at the Haberdashers Hall in London. The awards are organised by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and recognise outstanding achievements and contributions made by solicitors and barristers in their chosen field of publicly funded legal practice. A team from Fisher Jones Greenwood also travelled to Cambridge where they were presented with the Business in the Community East of England Leadership award for the firm’s pro bono work at a dinner held at King’s College.
Tendring Outreach Project leader Nigel Humphreys said: “We are very excited to have been recognised for our work in Tendring. The project was set up in October 2005 to fill an advice desert in one of the most deprived wards in Essex. Typically the service helps people by preventing them from losing their homes as well as enabling vulnerable families facing poverty caused by disability and long-term illness, to stay together. We also deliver training courses for advisers in the voluntary sector so they can provide basic advice to people on their rights and entitlements to statutory services. Winning these awards has been a huge boost.”
The Tendring Outreach project is jointly funded by the Legal Services Commission and Fisher Jones Greenwood’s partnership members. Solicitors work from Citizens Advice Bureaux offices in Harwich and Clacton.
Photograph courtesy of Robert Aberman (© www.robertaberman.co.uk)