Kent County Council’s legal eagles are in the running for two national awards.
KCC Legal Services has been shortlisted in two categories in The Lawyer Awards 2013.
The awards bring together the top performers in the legal profession across the UK from the past 12 months. Kent County Council is the only public sector organisation to receive two nominations for these prestigious awards.
The department has a chance of winning the In-House Public Sector Team of the Year for the groundbreaking work it has done, including the Evolution project which involves Kent Legal Services working closely with the University of Kent. It offers work experience and training opportunities for students.
Judges said: “Kent Legal Services is unlike virtually any other public sector legal team or in-house legal department. The department trades, insofar as regulatory and statutory powers allow, and has provided services to more than 350 bodies, councils and organisations. Last year it made a contribution to the council of around £3m, invaluable at a time of budgetary pressure.”
Geoff Wild, KCC’s director of governance and law, has been shortlisted for In House Lawyer of the Year, an award that normally goes to heads of law at top companies.
Judges said that by developing the “in-house private practice,” he had “changed the landscape of legal services through combining the best elements of commercial entrepreneurship with a staunch public service ethos.”
They added: “He has built a law practice of more than 125 lawyers with an annual turnover of nearly £12m and a profit centre of over £2m, a surplus that goes directly to funding the council and relieving a burden that would otherwise have to be met through taxation.”
Mr Wild’s “model for service delivery” had been followed by other local authorities and organisations in the UK and abroad.
Meanwhile, the Kent Law Clinic has been short-listed for Ethical Initiative of the Year. The clinic is run by the University of Kent at Canterbury and plays a key role in developing the next generation of lawyers.