Linda Urquhart OBE from Morton Fraser won the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Law Awards of Scotland 2016, which took place in Glasgow last night.
Ms Urquhart was recognised for her contribution to both the practice of law and her role in the development of Scots law.
Currently chairman of Morton Fraser, Ms Urquhart was the firms’s chief executive for more than ten years. In addition she is a former chairman of CBI Scotland while she currently sits on the board of CBI and Scottish Enterprise, and is chair of Investors in People Scotland and holds a number of further corporate and charity positions.
More than 300 people gathered to celebrate the wealth of talent in Scotland being undertaken by Scottish law firms, sole practitioners, teams and trainees who were recognised for the incredible work they are carrying out in Scotland’s judicial system.
The Law Awards of Scotland 2016 in association with HR Consultancy and supported by, Stirling Park, Law Society of Scotland and McKinstry Practice Management took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and were hosted by Shereen Nanjiani.
The big winner on the night was Shoosmiths, which scooped the Debt Recovery Firm of the Year category, sponsored by Stirling Park; and Property Firm of the Year; while Jen Paton from the firm won Up & Coming Lawyer of the Year.
Other multiple winners were The McKinstry Company and Digby Brown Solicitors, which picked up two awards each.
Prominent lawyer and human rights campaigner Aamer Anwar from Aamer Anwar & Co was named Solicitor of Year. And The Chairman’s Award was given to Phillip Rodney from Burness Paull.
Hilary Roberts, managing director of HR Consultancy said: “A huge congratulations to all the winners and finalists at last night’s Law Awards. We were extremely impressed with the high standards on display this year.
Firms showed best practice in delivering the best possible service to clients as well as developing and shaping the next generation of legal experts. These awards have shown that Scotland’s legal industry is going from strength to strength and has an exciting future ahead.”
Ronnie J Murison, director of sheriff officer services at Stirling Park, said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists and winners; the event was a great success and it allowed Scotland’s law industry to showcase all the hard work being undertaken in their profession. We support these awards as it is important to recognise high achievers and those spearheading good practice within a legal profession increasingly driven by audit and compliance.”
Graeme McKinstry, managing director of The McKinstry Company said: “McKinstry Practice Managament is delighted to have had the opportunity of supporting and sponsoring the Lifetime Achievement Award which is both a recognition and celebration of a unique and lasting contribution which Linda Urquhart OBE has made to both the practice and development of Scots Law. Linda’s achievements and dedication to the legal profession are now suitably recognised by the judges of these prestigious awards which acknowledge the superb quality of Scotland’s top lawyers.”
Graham Matthews, vice president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “We were delighted to see such strong competition for the awards this year and all of the winners deserve hearty congratulations for their achievements. The awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the breadth of talent in the Scottish legal profession and for us to recognise excellence in international law firms.”
For full details on this year’s winners please log onto – https://newsquestscotlandevents.com/events/the-law-awards-of-scotland/