IT was a legal high for the top lawyers in the county when Worcestershire Law Society held its 2015 Presidents Awards.

Hosted by the society’s president Nick Hughes, more than 130 guests attended the black-tie gala ball at Chateau Impney, Droitwich to see the prizes handed out.

Tarnjeet Rehal from Harrison Clark Rickerbys - described as a "bright future prospect" by the judging panel - held off strong competition to take home the trainee solicitor of the year award. In the closely-fought young solicitor of the year category, the top two nominees could not be separated by the judges with the award shared by Thomas Horton’s Harjinder Bains and Beata Nowakoswka from Whatley Weston & Fox.

The winner of the event’s showpiece award, solicitor of the year, was licensing and regulatory specialist James Lowe, partner at Harrison Clark Rickerbys. Judges highlighted his passion and track record in a variety of complex cases.

In the best individual support staff category, judges could not split the three finalists with Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ Christopher Finch, Nicki Wright from Thursfields Child Care and mfg Solicitors’ Elaine Mason all recognised for their paralegal, office management and administrative expertise.

Worcester-based Harrison Clark Rickerbys continued its winning run by taking the innovation award, which recognised its trademark, design and copyright protection service, and came out on top in the professional discipline category for its residential conveyancing services, narrowly pipping mfg Solicitors to first spot.

Worcestershire Law Society president Mr Hughes said: “Once again our annual awards have been a tremendous success and the event showcased the talent, drive and professionalism we have across Worcestershire’s legal profession. Every one of our finalists were impressive and stood out for a variety of different reasons. I’d like to congratulate all of our winners. Each individual award recognises their quality, consistency and how they go the extra mile for their firms, clients and the profession.”