Gongs gone
Former solicitor advocate Alan Blacker has reportedly had two “prestigious” legal awards revoked by the media company that initially awarded them to him.
Blacker, or ‘Lord Harley’ as he is otherwise known, and his legal charity JAFLAS (Joint Armed Forces Legal Advocacy Service), scooped awards for the “Best Pro Bono Legal Services Practice 2024” and the “UK Legal Client Service Excellence Award 2024” earlier this month.
Alongside over 220 other winners, Blacker received his prizes from SME News in recognition of his “excellence, innovation, and leadership in the legal sector and society”.
The awards will undoubtedly have raised eyebrows across the legal community, especially since Blacker was struck off in 2016 for making “inaccurate and misleading” statements about his qualifications, among other things. He has also been convicted of benefit fraud, banned from running a charity for 15 years and barred from CILEx membership for at least ten years.
But Blacker’s success seems short-lived, as Kathryn Hall, founder of SME News parent company AI Global Media, has reportedly confirmed that the awards have been “officially revoked”.
Speaking to the website RollOnFriday, Hall reportedly said that a member of the research team had flagged some issues with Blacker’s practices but that “another individual had missed the note and had neglected to take action accordingly”.
“We have spoken with the individual to ensure that this does not happen again, and re-training is being provided,” Hall continued. “It is with great regret that we find ourselves in this position as we value the research team and their input and diligence greatly”.
The page announcing Blacker’s double-gong success now appears to have been taken down.
SME News and Blacker have been approached for comment.