Winners
The winners of the 2024 awards were announced on Thursday 10 October 2024 during the Gray’s Inn employed Bar dinner.
2024 award winners, from left to right:
Lucinda Orr, Sirah Abraham, Chris Loweth, Cdr Mark Blackwell, Fiona Butler, and Daniel Lee on behalf of Government Legal Department’s Windsor Framework Team
Sirah Abraham, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, London
Employed Barrister of the Year in the Public Sector
Sirah currently works for the FCDO as the US/UK Criminal Justice Adviser to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Her achievements include the creation of Sentencing Guidelines, drafting legislation, the first Criminal Justice Board, creation of remote courts, and the first extradition from the UK into the Eastern Caribbean.
Fiona Butler, Browne Jacobson
Employed Barrister of the Year in a Law Firm
Fiona has single-handedly pioneered one of the most successfully recognised in-house barrister teams at Browne Jacobson LLP. She is also an inquest specialist with notable cases such as the recent Nottingham attacks, the Killamarsh murders and the 2007 Pilkington tragedy.
Chris Loweth, BBC
Employed Barrister of the Year in Commerce, Finance, or Industry
Chris is director of commercial, rights, and business affairs for BBC News, leading the team providing operational legal and rights advice to over 6,000 journalists around the world.
Government Legal Department - Cabinet Office Legal Advisers
Legal Team of the Year
The Government Legal Department’s (GLD) Windsor Framework Team advises the Cabinet Office Windsor Framework Task Force on all legal aspects of the Windsor Framework, a post-Brexit legal agreement between the European Union and the UK that adjusts the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Commander Mark Blackwell, Logistics Officer for the Royal Navy
Employed Barrister of the Year in the Armed Forces
Mark is based in Navy Command Headquarters in Portsmouth and serves as the lead and specialist employment law advisor for the Royal Navy.
Lucinda Orr, Enyo Law
Lifetime Achievement Award
Lucinda has a broad commercial disputes practice, with substantial experience of complex, high-value cross-border litigation and long trials. She has acted for many high-net-worth individuals, large institutions, and Nation States, in some of the most consequential trials to come before the English Courts in recent years.