Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services team have been recognised and celebrated for their outstanding achievements in contributing to the local community, winning two awards at this year’...
Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services team have been recognised and celebrated for their outstanding achievements in contributing to the local community, winning two awards at this year’s national Lawyers in Local Government Awards.
Warwickshire Legal Services were named Governance Team of the Year and team member Guy Darvill was awarded the title of Legal Professional of the Year at the sixth annual awards ceremony, which celebrates the most dedicated and engaged professionals across local government legal practice.
Warwickshire Legal Services provides legal support to Warwickshire County Council, Warwick District Council and Warwickshire Police, along with a number of other local authorities and public sector clients.
The team provides a wide range of legal services in a number of specialist fields including governance, information law, planning, property, highways, education, commercial, and adults and children’s social care and safeguarding.
They also provide a wide variety of day-to-day support and training and innovative solutions to assist clients to meet their challenges.
In recent years, they have developed innovative responses to new challenges, including the creation of a dedicated team to act as the data protection officer for over 340 schools around the West Midlands, as well as an information governance hub that is supported by a panel of 12 solicitors with specialist knowledge.
Over 30 lawyers in Warwickshire Legal Services have specific governance responsibilities and one of their team members, Guy Darvill, was singled out to receive the Legal Professional of the Year award.
Guy joined Warwickshire Legal Services in December 2016 as an Education lawyer and since then, among many achievements, he has led on the implementation of the innovative new Data Protection Officer Service for over 300 schools and multi-academy trusts from Warwickshire and the wider Midlands to support their compliance with GDPR.
Guy has also delivered GDPR training at large-scale events for school managers, which has received rave reviews, and training for those involved in school appeals and exclusion reviews.
In receiving the award from Lawyers in Local Government, he was praised for his high standards of integrity, a focus on the best interests of young people, his responsive and well-organised approach and his respect for other professionals.
The Lawyers in Local Government Awards celebrate the most dedicated and engaged professionals across local government legal practice and highlight the crucial work that local government lawyers do for their local communities.
Councillor Kam Kaur, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation, said: “I’m delighted that the essential and life changing work of Warwickshire Legal Services has been recognised by the Lawyers in Local Government Awards.
“We know just how much our legal professionals make a difference across our communities in Warwickshire and the Midlands, but too often the work that they do for the public good is overlooked.
“Warwickshire Legal Services have delivered some excellent work that has made a very real impact, producing innovative solutions and demonstrating integrity and care every day.
“Guy’s intellect, humour and communication skills, and his delivery of accessible and highly effective legal advice and support, mean he is a very worthy winner of the Legal Professional of the Year award.”