Industry stars to judge The Lawyer Awards 2011

The annual awards ­ceremony, which this year will take place in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday 21 June, is about celebrating excellence across private practice, the public sector, commerce and industry, and the bar.

It is unquestionably the biggest night of the year for the profession and, given the huge number of entries, this year’s event promises to be bigger than ever.

The judging panel of  high-profile lawyers will begin to sift through the entries at the end of this month, assisted by The Lawyer editorial team. The shortlist will be announced on Monday 2 May.

The Lawyer was the first legal magazine to put ­together a senior advisory judging panel taken from the great and the good in City ­institutions and the media. The combination of this and the magazine’s own research has made these awards the most incisive reflection of the commercial legal market.

This year’s awards will be supporting two new charities following a public vote on TheLawyer.com last year. They are the Alzheimer’s Society and the Samaritans.

Through donations given via the entry process, last year the awards raised £46,114 for Kids Company and £44,910 for The Children’s Trust, with a further £6,830 raised on the night, making The Lawyer Awards the top charity fundraiser in the legal ­sector.

THE JUDGES

Michael Bloch QC, Wilberforce Chambers

Michael Brindle QC, Fountain Court

Della Burnside, general counsel, McDonald’s

John Cavanagh QC,11KBW

Rachel Crook, general counsel Emea, Cushman & Wakefield

Leonie Fleming, general counsel, corporate banking and Emea, RBS

Meekal Hashmi, general counsel, Old Mutual Asset Management

Mohammed Malique, general counsel, Lycatel

Paul Meads, general counsel, F&C Reit Asset Management

Ian Mill QC, Blackstone Chambers

Janice More, general counsel, Heinz

Nicola Northway, managing director, group competition law, ­Barclays Bank

Deborah Prince, head of legal affairs, Which?

Mark Stewart, former London head of banking, Clifford Chance

Geoffrey Timms, general counsel, Legal & General

Hugh Tomlinson QC, Matrix Chambers