LawCareers.Net Awards makes it a perfect 10

The LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards (the TARAs) celebrated their 10th year with over 200 recruiters, partners, trainees and other friends joining the LawCareers.Net team for a chic riverside reception at the Design Museum, Shad Thames. As ever, the TARAs celebrated the firms and individuals who offered their recruits the best possible start to their legal careers. Firms were assessed on their recruitment process, the training they offer and the quality of their work placement schemes, and then compared with their peers.

LawCareers.Net publisher Matthew Broadbent commented: "It is a privilege to work with so many organisations which take the training and nurturing of their talent so seriously. The profession is going through a period of change and retrenchment at the moment, and it is at times like this that those who have taken care of the roots of their firm, its people, will have the advantage."

        The winners were:

        ATHERTON GODFREY
        Best Recruiter - Small Firm

        SHORT RICHARDSON & FORTH LLP
        Best Trainer - Small Firm

        NOCKOLDS
        Best Recruiter - Medium Regional Firm

        EMW LAW LLP
        Best Trainer - Medium Regional Firm

        PENNINGTONS SOLICITORS LLP
        Best Recruiter - Medium City Firm

        FARRER & CO LLP
        Best Trainer - Medium City Firm

        SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER & FLOM (UK) LLP
        Best Recruiter - US Firm in the City

        KIRKLAND & ELLIS INTERNATIONAL LLP
        Best Trainer - US Firm in the City

        BURGES SALMON
        Best Recruiter - National/Large Regional Firm

        SHOOSMITHS
        Best Trainer - National/ Large Regional Firm

        NABARRO LLP
        Best Recruiter - Large City Firm

        BAKER & MCKENZIE
        Best Trainer - Large City Firm

        TEES SOLICITORS
        Best Work Placement Scheme - Regional Firm

        EDWARDS WILDMAN PALMER UK LLP
        Best Work Placement Scheme - City Firm

        GRAHAM FRENCH - ALAN EDWARDS & CO
        Best Training Principal (small trainee intake)

        JOHN HORNBY - MACFARLANES LLP
        Best Training Principal (large trainee intake)

        DAVID HODGKINSON - UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
        Law Lecturer of the Year

        REED SMITH
        Commendation for Diversity

For the second year, the TARAs also honoured two training principals and the law lecturer of the year - individuals who have made a material improvement to the lot of the lawyers of the future. International firm Reed Smith was awarded the Commendation for Diversity, which was judged in association with Rare and the Law Society's Lawyers with Disabilities Division. Lianne Mosley, director of Legal Recruitment at Rare, commented: "Reed Smith had some stiff competition for this commendation. What really made the firm stand out was the breadth of its diversity initiatives: from ethnicity and gender, to disabilities, mental health, sexual orientation and religion, the firm had schemes, programmes and projects to attract and support an impressively wide range of diverse applicants and employees." Jane Burton, honorary secretary of the Law Society's Lawyers with Disabilities Division, added: "What stood out about the winner Reed Smith was their rounded approach to diversity, which included the provision of work experience for two disabled applicants. It would be great if other firms could follow their lead and offer concrete opportunities for disabled applicants in the coming years."

        Here is the full list of nominees:

        Best Recruiter - Large City Firm

        Ashurst LLP
        CMS Cameron McKenna LLP
        Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
        Mayer Brown International LLP
        Nabarro LLP
        Norton Rose
        Slaughter and May

        Best Trainer - Large City Firm

        Baker & McKenzie
        Berwin Leighton Paisner
        Clyde & Co LLP
        Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
        Hogan Lovells
        Reed Smith
        Taylor Wessing

        Best Recruiter - Medium City Firm

        Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP
        Farrer & Co LLP
        Ince & Co LLP
        Macfarlanes LLP
        Penningtons Solicitors LLP
        RPC
        Travers Smith LLP

        Best Trainer - Medium City Firm

        Bristows
        Collyer Bristow LLP
        Farrer & Co LLP
        Forsters LLP
        Goodman Derrick LLP
        Hodge Jones & Allen LLP
        Winckworth Sherwood LLP

        Best Recruiter - US Firm in the City

        Covington & Burling LLP
        Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
        Shearman & Sterling LLP
        Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP
        Vinson & Elkins RLLP

        Best Trainer - US Firm in the City

        Kirkland & Ellis International LLP
        Latham & Watkins
        McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP
        O'Melveny & Myers LLP
        Weil, Gotshal & Manges

        Best Recruiter - National/Large Regional Firm

        Blake Lapthorn
        Burges Salmon
        DLA Piper UK LLP
        DWF LLP
        Osborne Clarke
        Walker Morris
        Wragge & Co LLP

        Best Trainer - National/ Large Regional Firm

        Bevan Brittan LLP
        Bond Pearce LLP
        Browne Jacobson LLP
        Freeth Cartwright LLP
        Irwin Mitchell
        Mills & Reeve LLP
        Shoosmiths

        Best Recruiter - Medium Regional Firm

        Blandy & Blandy LLP
        Cripps Harries Hall LLP
        Nockolds
        Tees Solicitors
        Trethowans LLP
        Stevens & Bolton LLP
        Veale Wasbrough Vizards

        Best Trainer - Medium Regional Firm

        EMW Law LLP
        Michelmores
        Mundays LLP
        Thomas Eggar
        Thomson Snell & Passmore
        Wortley Byers LLP

        Best Recruiter - Small Firm

        Alan Edwards & Co
        Atherton Godfrey
        Reynolds Parry Jones LLP
        Thackray Williams LLP
        Wrigleys Solicitors LLP

        Best Trainer - Small Firm

        Accutrainee
        Atherton Godfrey
        Davis Blank Furniss
        Maples Teesdale LLP
        Short Richardson & Forth LLP

        Best Work Placement Scheme - City Firm

        Charles Russell LLP
        Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP
        Kennedys
        Mayer Brown International LLP
        Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP
        Speechly Bircham LLP

        Best Work Placement Scheme - Regional Firm

        Bond Pearce LLP
        Burges Salmon
        Mills & Reeve LLP
        Osborne Clarke
        Tees Solicitors
        Thomas Eggar

        Best Training Principal (large trainee intake)

        Edward Miller - Field Fisher Waterhouse
        Bob Hughes - Freeth Cartwright LLP
        Andrew Coates - Kennedys
        John Hornby - Macfarlanes LLP
        Alexander Brown - Simmons & Simmons LLP
        Suzanne Todd - Withers LLP

        Best Training Principal (small trainee intake)

        Graham French - Alan Edwards & Co
        Diane Parker - Atherton Godfrey
        Nicholas Belcher - Nockolds
        Tabitha Cave - Veale Wasbrough Vizards
        Valerie James - Wrigleys Solicitors LLP

        Commendation for Diversity

        No nominees

        Law Lecturer of the Year

        Rodney Brazier - University of Manchester
        Matt Gibson - University of Liverpool
        Candida Harris - University of Plymouth
        David Hodgkinson - University of Derby
        Luke Mason - University of Surrey
        Graham Virgo - University of Cambridge