Bakers, awards and some rock 'n' roll

But if your firm’s HR department was at The Lawyer’s Workplace and Diversity Awards last night, you might want to leave it until after lunch before complaining about the associate who keeps chewing your Biros - the team may not be at its best.

Certainly, there are staff milling around The Lawyer’s offices today for whom there are sunglasses neither big enough nor dark enough to hide the bags under their eyes.

But at least the lucky few entrants can console themselves with recognition of a job performed to the highest standards, as well as with a nice, shiny trophy.

Baker & McKenzie walked away with the top prize for the evening, Employer of the Year. Bakers’ victory is especially reassuring because with 70 offices and around 10,000 employees, awful working conditions at the firm would almost justify UN intervention. Bakers also picked up the gong for Most Effective Diversity.Programme - Social Mobility.

In fact, there were three diversity awards last night. Irwin Mitchell, which has a startling number of senior female lawyers compared to most othe firms, won on gender, while the Interlaw Diversity Forum won the LGB trophy.
Click here for the full list of winners.

Full credit to Mishcon de Reya’s house band, The Enlightened Tenacitists, which supplied the evening’s entertainment - but despite wowing the dancefloor, it’s back to the office today. Though on last night’sperformance, they could probably give up the day job.