LFS Awards: Winners Reaction

LFS Awards: Winners Reaction

The Law Firm Services awards took place last week, recognising a wide range of achievements across the conveyancing sector.

Following the high-profile daytime conference, the aim of the awards ceremony – sponsored by Groundsure – was to celebrate the achievements and success of both firms and individual conveyancers alike.

With winners chosen by an expert panel of judges, the evening showcased the diverse range of skills and strengths across the sector, with a clear focus on client care and customer service.

Securing the regional title of Best Conveyancing Firm in the South and South West, as well as the national award of Overall Conveyancing Firm of the Year was Plymouth law firm, GA Solicitors. David Wallis, partner of the firm and head of the residential conveyancing team stated: “We are absolutely thrilled to have our hard work recognised and to win both the regional and national awards. It was a very tough process and we were judged on compliance, our client care and processes. As well as a detailed submission form we had to provide numerous clients for interview, undertake a mystery shop exercise and be interviewed ourselves.

“My team works incredibly hard to deliver an outstanding level of client service and to have this acknowledged so publicly amongst our peers is a testament to their efforts. I would like to say a big well done to them all.”

Winning the award for Best Individual Conveyancer this year was Julie Atkinson from Ringrose Law. Commenting on her delight at the achievement and her enjoyment of the event, Julie stated: “I am absolutely delighted to have received this award. I have worked in the conveyancing sector for over 20 years through some major recessions and property market changes. I have always had an excellent team who have supported me and our aim is to deliver a first class conveyancing service to all our clients. This award is a true reflection of the service and dedication the whole conveyancing team at Ringrose Law put in to helping our clients.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the awards evening and it was an honour to be with so many respected and like-minded professionals in the field – a big congratulations to all of the shortlisted and award winners.”

Winning the award for Overall Young Conveyancer was Victoria Stone from Rowlinsons Solicitors. Expressing her surprise at the achievement, Victoria stated:

“I was delighted to just be nominated but to win both awards was a fantastic surprise and the LFS Awards Ceremony itself was a great event. I didn’t enter the legal sector via the conventional route of going to University. I started out as an Assistant Receptionist and worked by way up through the ranks at Rowlinsons whilst at the same time studying for my C.ILEX exams on a part time basis.  It just goes to show that anything is possible if you are willing to work hard.

“I am honored that LFS awarded me with the Young Conveyancer of the Year Award and I would like to thank them for a fantastic evening.”

Taking home the awards for the Best Website & Social Media, South and Overall Best Website & Social Media was AVRillo. Sharing his thoughts on the award was Angelo Piccirillo, Solicitor-Partner & Co-founder of the firm.

“These are one of the most competitive legal awards of the conveyancing calendar. Specialist, but at the same time one of the warmest and friendliest. AVRillo is truly honoured to be presented with not one Gold Win but two as we know how hard they are to come by.”

Shortlisted in the Small Conveyancer category and being Highly Commended at the regional level was Midlands based firm, Hedges Law. Commenting on the achievement was Director and Head of Property at the firm, Vicky Hernandez. She stated: “It was a great event for catching up with others in the industry and an opportunity to let our hair down in what are very pressured times in the conveyancing market. With regard to our award, we are over the moon! We work really hard to keep our clients at the heart of everything we do and this is a testament to the fact that we are getting it right… at least most of the time!”

She stated: “It was a great event for catching up with others in the industry and an opportunity to let our hair down in what are very pressured times in the conveyancing market. With regard to our award, we are over the moon! We work really hard to keep our clients at the heart of everything we do and this is a testament to the fact that we are getting it right… at least most of the time!”

Securing the award for Best Direct Conveyancer was Chester-based firm, Hillyer McKeown. Partner and Head of Commercial Property, Caroline Jones, expressed her delight at the achievement, as well as how the award has strengthened the team’s commitment to providing a first-class service.

“We are delighted that our team won this national award. It has been a real boost for them to have their continual hard work recognised in this way. This is a massive achievement for us and one which has strengthened our ongoing commitment to improving our service to make every transaction as smooth as possible. We would like to extend our thanks to clients for their feedback, judges for their evaluation and those who coordinated the awards. We were impressed by the dinner from start to finish. The organisers had thought of every detail to make the event as enjoyable as possible. It’s a night we will remember warmly for a very long time.”

For firm Dezrez Legal, achievements were recognised in two categories, being Highly Commended for both their Website & Social Media in the South, and at a regional level for the Wales & West Midlands Conveyancer. Commenting on the firm’s success was Managing Director, Laura Liddell.

‘’We enter the LFS Awards on an annual basis because we value the opinion of our peers. We find it to be a great marketing tool and our clients genuinely connect with the accolade. This year we were thrilled to be Highly Commended in both the Regional Firm of the Year – Wales & West Midlands and the Best use of Website & Social Media Firm categories. It’s fantastic for our staff to be recognised in this way and has had a really positive impact on their sense of pride in what we do. As always we enjoyed the evening and made some really valuable connections with companies that will help our business to continue to provide an excellent level of service and innovation to our client base. See you next year!’’

In the North West, Napthens LLP secured the title of Best Conveyancer, an achievement which head of residential property, Sarah Barnes, attributed to the hard work of the team.

“It is a real honour to be chosen for this award. “It’s a reflection of all the hard work done by the whole team at Napthens, but also a great showcase of what our clients think of us. The awards have a real emphasis on customer service with our clients approached for their thoughts and to win the award twice now is a privilege. We’d like to thank all those clients who helped us to this success.”

Also in this region, Keoghs Conveyancing achieved Highly Commended just under a year after inception. Commenting on the achievements of the firm was Director of Conveyancing, Tom Bridge.

“We are delighted that our achievements over a short space of time since setting up our department have been recognised in this way. The LFS Conference and Awards are an important part of the calendar in the conveyancing industry and the evening event provides a very good opportunity to meet and catch up with friends and colleagues from the industry as well as introducers of work and other industry peers.”

Taking home the award for the ‘Best Small Conveyancing Firm in the Midlands’ was firm, Fletcher Longstaff. Commenting on the firm’s surprise of the award as well as the enjoyment of the evening in general was Director Adam Cheal. He stated:  “We were absolutely delighted to receive the award of Best Small Conveyancing Firm in the Midlands. As a small practice, we were over the moon just to be shortlisted so came with no real expectations. To walk away as the winners is testament to the hard work of all members of the firm over the two and a half years since we started out on this adventure. The night as a whole was great and the venue spot on. We will definitely be entering next year’s awards to defend our crown.”

The full list of winners can be accessed here.

General News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *