Member Article

Wright Hassall claims top regional law society award

A Midlands law firm claimed a top prize at a regional awards ceremony after supporting local businesses and the community throughout the pandemic.

Wright Hassall has been named Firm of the Year 2021 by the Warwickshire Law Society for firms with six or more partners or directors at an event at The Manor Hotel in Meriden.

The firm, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary of providing legal services to people and businesses across Warwickshire and beyond, received the accolade at the Warwickshire Law Society’s Presidents Charity Dinner and Awards evening.

The Society, which was established in 1915, represents more than 500 solicitors, trainee solicitors and legal executives across the region.

Categories for this year’s awards also included Lawyer of the Year, Young Lawyer of the Year, Legal Team of the Year and Law Firm of the Year (sole to five partners).

Robert Lee, Corporate Partner at Wright Hassall, said: “The firm is delighted to have been named Law Firm of the Year by the Warwickshire Law Society.

“We have been operating in the region for 175 years now and still to be recognised for our local impact while taking our legal expertise nationwide is a testament to our incredible team.

“We work within a fantastic community of law firms and professionals, and it was great to have the chance to mix with them in person after many months of virtual meetings.

“I’d like to congratulate all the other winners for the work that they are doing to showcase the high level of legal talent in the region.”

Over the last year, Wright Hassall’s initiatives have included supporting the Helping Hands Community Project, which helps vulnerable individuals to get back on their feet, to move into their new Leamington premises by undertaking all the legal work free of charge.

The firm also negotiated the lease for Warwick District Foodbank’s new warehouse and office space, donated food to help feed the homeless, and set up a dedicated web page to allow charities to showcase areas in need of volunteers.

For businesses that had to keep their premises open throughout the pandemic, Wright Hassall developed a Covid-secure set of protocols based on government guidance and issued a series of guides to clients to inform them how the Job Retention Scheme operated and how they could use it.

The firm later issued various draft policies to cover home working, short-time working and lay-offs, flexible working, and coronavirus-related sickness absence, which was then shared via a series of webinars and distributed to businesses across the region.

In January 2021, Wright Hassall launched its 175 Acts of Kindness campaign to mark its 175th anniversary.

Each month the public is asked to nominate someone who has gone above and beyond to support others and the winner receives £175 to donate to a charity of their choice.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .