Northern stars: firms shine at the Manchester Legal Awards

It was a night of celebration in the Manchester legal community last night, as the twelfth annual Manchester Legal Awards (MLAs) took place. 

The MLAs were hosted virtually by chief executive of the Manchester Law Society, Fran Eccles-Bech, alongside the Society’s president, Matt Taylor of Eversheds Sutherland. 

Taylor said: “…what a year it has been for the world, but what a year it is has been for the profession in Manchester”. 

Darren Thwaites, editor in chief of the Manchester Evening News, added it had been a challenging year, but a year “in which the Manchester legal sector has once again shown its quality, its creativity, its determination and its resilience”.  

Firms were shortlisted in 21 categories, but there were several stand out winners on the night. 

Criminal defence firm Olliers Solicitors walked away with four awards, winning in each category it had been nominated in – solicitor of the year, crime team of the year, partner of the year and small team of the year.

Altrincham-based firm Myerson Solicitors was shortlisted for four awards and scooped both corporate/commercial team of the year and property team of the year. Head of the corporate commercial team, M. Akeel Latif, commented: "It is a fantastic achievement for both teams; we've been quietly building something here with a great group of people and it's rewarding to have that recognised amongst some other highly acclaimed firms."

JMW Solicitors was shortlisted for eight awards and won two awards for litigation team of the year and trainee/paralegal/apprentice of the year. 

Deans Court Chambers won barristers’ chambers of the year for an unprecedented fifth year. 

The awards will be celebrated in person in the autumn, at a ‘well after, after party’ at the Midland Hotel.

The 2021 MLAs are available to watch online here.