Halsbury's Award winners
Winners 2011
The winners of the Halsbury's Awards 2011 were announced on Thursday 16 June at the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) Annual Conference held in The Sage, Gateshead. This year the awards were presented by David Wills, President of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians, and Simon Hetherington, Publisher of Halsbury's Laws of England, representing LexisNexis.
Best Legal Information Services (Non-Commercial Sector): The Scottish Government Solicitors Legal Information Service
This year, the award for Best Legal Information Service in the non-commercial category goes to a library team in the government sector. This team undertakes complex and intricate legal enquiries on behalf of their users, as well as providing specialist advice on knowledge management, copyright, document storage, information dissemination and electronic records management. Their customised database training package was so well received by their own lawyers that the service were asked to deliver it to other government agencies, where the response was equally positive. One user said “a little effort to attend the course for an enormous benefit to my work – it saved me a huge amount of time and generally leads to me feeling better informed and that my advice is more secure”. The team has built a reputation for delivering exceptional service which is second to none, and aside from their own users, the library service is very often the first port of call for other legal information professionals in Scotland and further afield who have queries about Scottish primary and secondary legislation or other matters relating to the Scottish statute book.
Unfortunately, members of this Information Service were not present to accept the award but were notified separately by the Chair of the Adjudication Panel.
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector): Ward Hadaway Information Services
This year the award for Best Legal Information Service outside London in the Commercial Sector goes to a team described by one nominator as “unfailingly cheerful in the face of frequently immoderate demands; seldom beaten even by the most bizarre request for the most arcane information; answerers of your inquiries in minutes when you think it’ll take hours; habitual doers of the impossible; indefatigably available at all hours and providers of chocolate biscuits to the weary”. More than one nominator stressed the team’s responsiveness and constant willingness to go the extra mile. The team adds value to the firm, through its expertise in sourcing information and through its informative weekly circulars, covering all the firm’s specialisms and is viewed as an important asset in the delivery of high quality, value for money legal services to clients.
Judith Lowe, Jennifer Riddle and Hannah Parker accepted the award.
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector) - London Only: Berwin Leighton Paisner Library and Information Service
This year the award for Best London Legal Information Service in the Commercial Sector goes to a service described by one nominator as providing “first class research support presented in a user-friendly format and tailored intelligently to the purpose of the relevant enquiry”. This is a team that takes the time to understand the topics their users are interested in and that makes links between apparently unconnected topics. This team’s firm has grown significantly over the last 10 years, including overseas, and the library service has risen to the challenge that this growth brings, offering a consistently high level of service across all practice areas and all of the different offices. In addition to serving the internal business needs of their own firm, the team also offer their expertise to key clients to help them to effectively manage their own information services, getting best value for money and access to the most suitable resources to serve their own business needs
The presentation was made to two members of the team who were present at the event, Dunstan Speight and Dimitri Zissimos.
Previous winners
2010
Best Legal Information Services (Non-Commercial Sector): The Judges' Reference Library, Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector): The Harvey Ingram LLP Knowledge Management and Information Unit
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector) London Only: The Lawrence Graham LLP Information Resources and Know-How Team
2009
Best Legal Information Services (Non-Commercial Sector): The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector): Clarke Willmott LLP Information Services, Birmingham
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector) London Only: CMS Cameron KcKenna LLP Library and Knowledge Centre
2008
Best Legal Information Services (Non-Commercial Sector): The Law Society Library, London
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector): Ward Hadaway Information Services, Newcastle
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector) London Only: Sidley Austin LLP Information Services
2007
Best Legal Information Services (Non-Commercial Sector): The Inner Temple Library
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector): Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Manchester
Best Legal Information Services (Commercial Sector) London Only: Sidley Austin LLP Information Services
2006
Legal Information Professional of the Year – Large law firm: Marilyn Siddons-Smith of Hill Dickinson LLP
Legal Information Professional of the Year - Academic: Paul Norman Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Best Use of Technology in a Library Project: Penny Bailey and Brian Thomas for the BIALL Website
2005
Legal Information Professional - Large law firm: Gail Sanderson, Davies Arnold Cooper
Legal Information Professional - Small/Medium law firm: Michael Oberwarth, Matthew Arnold & Baldwin
Legal Information Professional - Academic: Emily Allbon City University
Legal Information Professional - Special: David Sparrow, Disability Rights Commission
Best Use of Technology in a Library Project: Kate Stanfield CMS Cameron McKenna
