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New Law Centre opens in west London
The day after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force, Ealing Law Centre® in west London opened its doors for the first time. The Law Centre will provide a much-needed specialist service in both housing and immigration law. Since the collapse in July 2011 of legal advice charity Law For All, not for profit specialist advice provision has been unavailable in the borough.
Lynn Knowles, chairperson of the Law Centre and a partner at Bindmans LLP, said: ‘We know the road ahead is likely to be a difficult one, but we are determined to work our socks off to make this service a sustainable one. It has to be, because the need locally is massive and growing.’
Call for nominations for 2013 LALY awards
The Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) awards, which are now in their 11th year, were launched in February. Once again, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group is calling for nominations in nine individual categories (see below for the list of categories and their respective sponsors). For the first time, relevant categories have been opened up to a broader range of lawyers, including legal executives and case workers.
As well as selecting the winner in each of the individual categories, the judges will also be making a special award for Outstanding Achievement, which is sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. The LALYs media partner is Legal Action.
LAPG is seeking nominations for the 2013 LALY awards in the following categories:
•Criminal defence (sponsored by Accesspoint)
•Family legal aid (sponsored by Resolution)
•Social and welfare lawyer (sponsored by Matrix Legal Aid Link)
•Mental health lawyer (sponsored by DNA Worldwide)
•Immigration lawyer (sponsored by Tikit)
•Legal aid firm/not for profit agency (sponsored by the Law Society)
•Legal aid barrister (sponsored by John M Hayes)
•Legal aid newcomer: lawyer (sponsored by Co-operative Legal Services)
•Legal aid newcomer: barrister (sponsored by Irwin Mitchell).
The nomination period runs until Friday 26 April 2013. The shortlist will be published in May, and on 2 July the winners will be announced at a ceremony in London.
•For a nomination form, see the insert with this issue.