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At the MJLD Summer Ball on Saturday 30th July 2022 the winners for the MJLD Annual Awards will be announced. The Summer Ball is our most prestigious event of the season and given this is the first one back since the big C, we anticipate our highest rates of attendance to date (with over half of our tables already currently reserved before the formal purchase window opens!).

 

During the ball, we will be announcing the winners of the MJLD Annual Awards 2022. The awards celebrate the talent, commitment and dedication of the Junior Lawyers across the city, whom we are proud to call members.

 

What are the awards for?

 

This year, we are hosting 3 award categories for which we are asking you to nominate for:

 

1. Legal Excellence Award

This award recognises any Junior Lawyers who simply excel. This may involve working on, and leading cases which are beyond what would be expected of someone at their level. We would ask you to (confidentially of course) to describe the casework they have been able to work on, the talent they have shown and the reason why they, above all others, are deserving of this award. We appreciate that all areas of practice have different descriptions of what is ‘excellent’ depending on the work being carried out, and so we would ask that your nomination includes the impact that their work has made/continues to make on clients in order for the nominations to be judged fairly.

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2. Care in the Community Award. 

As lawyers, we are all well aware that the work we do goes far beyond what we can do from behind a desk or in a courtroom. Some may even go so far as to say that Lawyers are the backbone of society and that they are there for people and businesses in need and often at their most desperate times. This award acknowledges work carried out by Junior Lawyers aside from their day-to-day legal casework. Whether that be supporting local charities, leading work experience programmes for others looking to break into the profession, hosting wellbeing or mental health support for colleagues or something completely different for which your business can be proud of.

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3. Supporter of Rising Talent

This is an award which is given to a firm or chambers across Merseyside which is acknowledged by Junior Lawyers as somewhere they can fulfil their potential. The firm should offer opportunities for both personal and professional development as well as an environment where they are happy, content and supported whilst being provided with the tools to flourish in their careers.

 

Who can be nominated?

 

Nominations for the Legal Excellence and Care in the Community Awards are open to all Junior Lawyers who are members of MJLD across Merseyside.

 

A “Junior Lawyer” can be any of the following, up to 4 years post qualification:

 

• Paralegal;

• Legal Assistant;

• Trainee Solicitor;

• Pupil Barrister;

• Trainee Legal Executive;

• Newly Qualified Solicitor;

• Newly Qualified Legal Executive; or

• Newly Qualified Barrister.

 

If you believe you have a suitable candidate who does not fall within one of those brackets but may consider themselves a Junior Lawyer, please reach out and enquire as to whether they are eligible to apply and we would be happy to clarify for you.

 

Nominations for the Supporter of Rising Talent award are open to all Law Firms, Chambers and Organisations (including businesses with in house legal teams).

 

Who can nominate?

 

We ask that all nominations for individual Junior Lawyers are submitted via someone in a position of leadership at that organisation. We have circulated all nomination forms to whom we understand is the best person to either nominate candidates, or allocate to the appropriate people in the firm to do so. If you think that someone would be better suited to deal with this within your firm, please respond with the best email address and we would be happy to resend this email.

 

Nominations are free of charge and whilst there are no limits on how many nominations can be entered by any particular firm, we would ask you to take a quality over quantity approach in submitting these.

 

For the Support to Rising Talent award, we ask that this is a nomination prepared by the Junior Lawyers of that firm. The reason for this is that we believe the best way to celebrate the culture a business has created and one in which Junior Lawyers can thrive is to hear directly from those who are currently benefitting. We would be grateful if nominations for this award are limited to ONE per organisation.

 

What is the process?

 

Please see attached nomination form for each of these awards. We ask that these are completed and returned to myself before the close of business on Tuesday 21st June 2022.

 

The shortlist of candidates will be chosen by Chelsea Kearns the Chair of MJLD and David Tartellin who is our current Vice Chair. This means that all committee members, aside from ourselves, are able to be nominated for these awards. The shortlist will be determined based on the information provided in the nominations alone and so we would ask that these are done in as much detail as possible.

 

Each award will be shortlisted down to 3 candidates.

 

The final 3 for each of the individual awards will be interviewed by a representative from our kind sponsors Liverpool John Moore’s University w/c 27th June 2022.

 

We ask that the final 3 firms who are shortlisted for the Support to Rising Talent award nominate 2 Junior Lawyers to present a short 10 minute presentation to our representative from LJMU about the work carried out by their specific firm and answer any questions they have in order for the winner to be chosen.

 

The winners of each award will be presented at the Ball on the above mentioned date.

 

All nominations are confidential, however, we would ask that you get permission of any nominees prior to submission of nomination forms so we can be sure of their participation in the interview process.

 

Best of luck to all nominees from all at MJLD.

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Enquiries can be emailed to Chelsea Kearns ckearns@broudiejacksoncanter.co.uk.