Our 10th Celebration of Our Inspirations in Law will be on the 4th November 2025 –
Venue: DLA Piper, London
INFORMATION ON AWARDS + CRITERIA FOR NOMINATIONS
The Inspirational Women in Law Awards seek to identify individuals from across the legal profession who are leading the way in improving equality and diversity. The Awards recognise those who are both excelling in their areas of practice and are working for the changes needed to ensure women working in the law are able to thrive.
Started in 2016, the Awards will be hosted in their 10th edition by the Next 100 Years campaign team. This year, they will be integrated into NHY’s Centenary Celebrations of Women in Law with an evening of celebrating Inspirational Women in Law past and present at the Awards Ceremony on 4th November 2025.
How to nominate?
Nominations can be submitted for yourself or another individual via this form. Here, you will be asked to detail the reasoning behind your nomination through a brief response to the following prompt: ‘Please describe the nominee’s contribution to achieving equality for women within the profession and why you think they deserve this Award.
The deadline for nominations to be submitted is 7th September 2025.
Criteria for nominees:
- Their practice must be UK-based.
- Their contributions to achieving equality for women should fall within the legal profession. However, such contributions can be executed either through their work as legal practitioners or through additional work that they take on alongside their main job (e.g. pro bono work). In exceptional cases, contributions made by legal professionals/students to achieving equality for women outside of the legal profession will also be considered.
What’s next?
Following the closing of nominations, all nominees will be contacted with a short written task to complete as the basis for the second round of judging. Their entries will be anonymised, shortlisted, and sent to our expert judging panel, who will decide on the winning entries. The winners of the 2025 Awards will then be announced at our Awards Ceremony on 1st November.
Categories open for Nomination in 2025:
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises the contribution of a legal practitioner who is still in the early stages of their career. They will be a maximum of 5 years PQE, and will have made, or be in the process of making, a significant contribution to achieving equality for women in Law.
IN-HOUSE LAWYER OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises an in-house lawyer who has demonstrated a significant commitment to achieving equality for women in law. This might be through their own Award-worthy practice as an in-house lawyer, or through their dedication outside of their practice to achieving equality in the profession.
SOLICITOR OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a female Solicitor who has shown great dedication to achieving equality for women in law, whether through their own excellent practice or through their commitment to increasing diversity outside of their practice.
BARRISTER OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a female Barrister who has shown great dedication to achieving equality for women in law, whether through their own excellent practice or through their commitment to increasing diversity outside of their practice.
CHAMPION OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a legal practitioner who has acted as a Champion for a particular cause related to increasing equality within the legal profession. Their work will have contributed to increasing access and participation in the legal profession, whether through their own excellence in their practice after having come from a non-traditional background, or their commitment outside of their practice to roles, activities or endeavours which are dedicated to increasing equality.
MENTOR OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a Mentor within the legal profession whose dedication to their role as mentor has contributed to increasing equality within the legal profession.
PARALEGAL OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a paralegal who has demonstrated a significant commitment to achieving equality for women in law. This might be through their own Award-worthy practice as a paralegal, or through their dedication outside of their practice to achieving equality in the profession.
LEGAL ACADEMIC OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a Legal Academic who has shown considerable commitment to increasing equality within the profession, whether it be through their own excellence in their role, or through their contribution outside of their academic role.
LAW STUDENT OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises a trailblazing law student who has shown true dedication to increasing equality in the Law alongside studying their course. The student can be of any age, but must have been studying at some point during the 2024-25 academic year a qualifying law degree at a UK university (including both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, such as a BA in Law, the PgDL, or the LPC).
