Recognises and celebrates pro bono excellence
LawWorks, AKA legal charity the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, held its annual award ceremony this week — with a junior associate at a US law firm in London and the University of Kent bagging prominent wins.
Among the numerous awards, Covington & Burlington trainee Alessandro Angelico scooped the prize for the best contribution by a junior lawyer, having assisted in a refugee application for an Afghan judge who was at risk of capture, imprisonment or murder by the Taliban.
He took the lead on the case, liaising with senior diplomats and UN officials in pursuing the claim, with one of the judges praising the “maturity and sensitivity with which he approaches his pro bono work”.
Scooping the prize for best contribution by a pro bono clinic was Kent Law Clinic, part of the University of Kent. They took home the prize for handling a huge 170 legal causes of action for 22 care workers who had gone without pay in 2022. All but two of the 170 legal causes of action were successful, and a total of £206,450 was awarded to the care workers.
LawWork judges emphasised that “the pro bono work of the clinic staff & students is nothing short of outstanding.”
Commenting on the prize winners, Rebecca Wilkinson, the Chief Executive of LawWorks said:
“There is a reason the LawWorks Annual Awards are the highlight of our year; hearing the impact pro bono work makes on people’s lives continues to reaffirm our commitment to developing and supporting solicitors pro bono work within the access to justice ecosystem.”
Other big-name winners of this year’s awards include Reed Smith, scooping the prize for best contribution by a large firm, and Naga Kandiah, a solicitor at MTC Solicitors who was awarded for best contribution by an individual.