Resolution member Kate Hammond was celebrated by her peers last night as she won the Family category at the Legal Aid Lawyers of the Year (LALY) awards, held for the first time virtually.
Qualifying as a solicitor in 2002, Kate is a recognised specialist in child care law and her work includes advising people involved in local authority care proceedings. This includes advising parents, children and guardians about defending themselves. In addition, she has a wealth of experience representing children where there is disagreement between parents over decisions following a divorce or separation.
Kate’s successes last year include securing a protection order for a ten year girl in a case where the Judge said it was hard to imagine a child being at higher risk of FGM. She is praised for being a role model for everyone including young lawyers starting out in their careers to her senior management team colleagues.
Kate, who is joint Head of the Family Department at Miles & Partners, was shortlisted alongside Juanita Kareer and Krina Palmer.
Speaking after winning the award, Kate said: “It is such a tough job being a legal aid lawyer, across all the different categories. You don’t get paid a huge amount of money and the young people who are committing to doing this work are just amazing. If I can bring them on and inspire them, I am very happy to do so. The pandemic has led to a lot of challenges, including remote hearings, which makes access to justice rather tricky. We are doing more hybrid hearings where the most vulnerable people are physically attending court buildings which is better as they have immediate access to their legal representatives.”
Resolution national chair Juliet Harvey said: “Congratulations to all the winners and nominees at the 2020 LALY awards and in particular Kate Hammond who won the Family category award. Kate is clearly a brilliant role model who is inspiring the next generation of legal aid lawyers to continue this incredibly important work. The commitment, passion and professionalism demonstrated by legal aid lawyers from across all sectors continues to amaze and inspire me. They work tirelessly to ensure the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in our society continue to have access to justice.”