Release Date: 26/03/12

Challinors' employment partner wins in Legal Awards

Simon Bond, Partner and Employment Law team head at Midlands law firm Challinors, has been named the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in the 2012 Birmingham Law Society Awards.

He picked up his Award at the Law Society ceremony at Birmingham's ICC on the 22^nd March, beating off stiff competition from fellow shortlisted finalist solicitors from Wragge & Co and The College of Law.

"I'm delighted to have won this award as recognition of the importance Challinors places on pro bono work and supporting our wider community," said Simon after receiving his Award from guest presenter, TV personality and sports commentator, Clare Balding.

"A large measure of the award was for my work as a Trustee of Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau and I would like to thank all the Bureau staff and volunteers who work so hard, in a difficult financial climate, to deliver high quality advice services within Birmingham."

Amongst his recent charitable and pro bono work, Simon has established a scheme with Sandwell Citizens Advice Bureau to give CAB clients 15 minutes free legal advice on employment law issues. Challinors also runs free legal advice sessions at Age Concern drop-in centres throughout Birmingham, and provide pro bono advice at e4f at Aston Science Park to support start-up businesses.

Challinors' Employment Team is currently acting on a pro bono basis for the Mountain & Cave Rescue Benevolent Fund, a charity providing support to alleviate hardship amongst rescue personnel.

At the Awards ceremony Andrew Lancaster, Birmingham Law Society president, said: "All of this year's winners have demonstrated outstanding performance over the last 12 months, and I would like to congratulate them on their achievements.

"The high calibre of finalists at this year's awards has continued to showcase the superb legal talent we have within our region."

More than 570 people from the region's legal and business community attended the event at The ICC on March 22nd.

As well as the awards, a raffle prize draw raised money on the night for Acorns Children's Hospice.

Simon Bond is a Trustee of Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau. He specialises exclusively in Employment Law and advises employers and employees on all aspects of employment and HR issues including redundancy, dismissal and disciplinary matters, discrimination, drafting service agreements and Compromise Agreements and pensions matters. Simon has substantial experience in employment litigation having appeared in Employment Tribunals throughout the UK and before the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Challinors has eight strategically-located offices across the Midlands in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Nottingham, Leicester, Loughborough and Long Eaton. It has a team of over 200, including 17 partners, over 100 fee earners, and teams dedicated to providing specialist legal services from property, construction, corporate, commercial, dispute resolution, employment matters, and mediation services, to family, criminal, personal injury, wills, trusts and probate. The firm's teams are highly regarded and have received top tier rankings in both the Legal 500 and Chambers UK Directory. For more information visit: www.challinors.co.uk.

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