Monday, November 19, 2007

Scottish Legal Awards gala lunch gets Match of the Day input

... which means football fan Kenny MacAskill will be in for an award too ? Guess which ...

The Scotsman reports :

Hansen will be tackling lawyers at Scottish Legal Awards gala lunch

PETER RANSCOMBE

FOOTBALL pundit Alan Hansen will be swapping his chair on Match of the Day for the stage at next February's Scottish Legal Awards ceremony.

The former Partick Thistle and Liverpool defender, who was three times a winner of the European Cup with the latter, will entertain lawyers at the gala event, sponsored by Bank of Scotland Corporate.

The awards cover a wide range of categories, from prizes for top individuals through to gongs for the leading legal teams.

Entries continue to flood in for the awards - of which The Scotsman is the media partner - but it's not too late for you or your firm to get your entries in. The closing date is Wednesday 28 November.

Rebecca Davies, the director of the Scottish Legal Awards, says: "Alan Hansen is a household name in Britain and must be one of Scotland's greatest footballing exports. It will be interesting to hear his tales from competing at the highest level throughout the 1980s and especially now when Scottish football has been going through a tremendous revival." Hansen notched up 631 games for Liverpool and added 26 Scotland caps to his tally, before retiring in 1991 with a knee injury. He says: "I'm looking forward to returning to Glasgow where my football career really started. I have a great respect for the city and its people and I look forward to meeting all the finalists."

Last year, Elish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate, was among the guests who heard Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former director of communications at the event. Previous speakers have included former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond and Roger Black, the gold-medal-winning runner.

Gillespie Macandrew was crowned firm of the year at the end of the last contest.

"The award recognised our innovative approach to business and the benefits of winning it have been considerable, both from an internal and external perspective," says managing partner Ian Turnbull.

"The impact on our staff has been clear for all to see, in terms of increased pride and attracting fresh talent to the firm.

"By evidencing the firm as an attractive and desirable place to work, the award has demonstrated to a broader audience the successes of Gillespie Macandrew and consequently allowed us to attract expertise from further afield than we might have otherwise experienced."

Professor Lorne Crerar, the chairman of Harper Macleod, which won a brace of prizes at the last awards, says the awards gave the firm an "enormous sense of satisfaction and a great impetus for development".

He adds: "Internally, the award for commercial property team of the year has been extremely motivational for our real estate team, in particular the team's developed a real sense of pride.

"Externally too the awards have raised our profile. I think it's also fair to say that clients and contacts enjoy being associated with a 'winning team'."

Martin Darroch, Harper Macleod's chief executive, says: "Our corporate social responsibility initiative of the year award was something we were delighted to receive.

"The win provided additional momentum to further prioritise our internal, environmental and charitable initiatives."

• For full details on the Scottish Legal Awards - or to request an entry pack - call KD Media on 0131-620 9844 or visit http://www.thescottishlegalawards.com

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