Irwin Mitchell, CILEx and CoL joint education programme wins award

Irwin Mitchell's partnership with The College of Law and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has won the education and training initiative of the year prize at this year's British Legal Awards.

The national firm's partnership, launched in 2011 as the 'IMU Law and Business School', was the first business education programme to be set up by UK law firm. As reported by Legal Futures, the programme has since helped over 200 of its employees complete courses at all levels, from paralegal to partner.

Catherine Kenwright, Irwin Mitchell's head of learning and knowledge management, said: "This prize is a testament to the hard work which has gone into this initiative from within our firm, as well as the huge expertise which has been offered by The College of Law and CILEx. As a firm, we have always been committed to learning and development as a way of ensuring everyone within our business is able to not only deliver high-quality services for our clients, but can also achieve all of their professional ambitions."

Nick Hanning, the president of CILEx, said: "We were thrilled to win this award. CILEx has been providing exceptional vocational training in law for almost 50 years and we are absolutely committed to ensuring law firms have access to flexible training programmes like the one we have helped set up with the College of Law and Irwin Mitchell. The IMU Law and Business School has shown that law firms can create their own legal experts of the future and we are proud to be a part of their vision."

Tricia Chatterton, business development director at The College of Law, said: "We are delighted to have received this award for innovation in legal training and education. The IMU law and business School has created a unique multi-pathway, career-spanning law and management training programme for lawyers at all levels in the business."