The Rubie Awards 2020

Shortlisted: Caroline Coyle; Katarzyna Mikula and Michelle Gill

Winner: Michelle Gill

Michelle is a Senior Paralegal in our London office and a CSR Champion. This year she has worked extremely hard to raise money for the DWF Foundation.

Michelle recently organised a fundraiser where people had to run/walk or cycle 5km every day for a month. Michelle inspired so many people at DWF to get involved and worked really hard to ensure everyone was enjoying it. The exercise had great benefits for the participants physical and mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown and also raised a substantial amount of money for the Foundation.

Michelle shows drive and passion and actively seeks new ways in which to raise funds, especially when certain ideas are not achievable in the current climate. 

Well done Michelle!

Shortlisted: Abigail Taylor; Carlos Gonzalez Reyes and Helen Redmond

Winner: Abigail Taylor

Abi is a Solicitor in our Leeds office and is heavily involved in mentoring young people through various CSR projects.

Outside of the office, she is a volunteer in the costume department at West Yorkshire Playhouse; volunteers to help out with youngsters learning to dance and is an advocate for young offenders, attending police stations to provide some representation for young offenders that have been arrested.

Recently Abi was part of a project during lockdown making laundry bags for washing scrubs/face masks etc. for Yorkshire hospitals.

Abi is a positive role model for so many young people and is always willing to volunteer and help out.

Well done Abi!

Shortlisted: Jill Sinclair; Rebecca Lilly and Sarah Charlesworth

Winner: Sarah Charlesworth

Sarah is the Diversity and Inclusion Manager at DWF. She recently hosted a hugely successful online Diversity Week across our global offices and has been instrumental in ensuring that our people have diversity and inclusion front and centre of their working lives.

Sarah's hard work and endeavour is inspirational. No job is too small and she is always very positive.

Well done Sarah!

Shortlisted: Babi Panjikar; Joanne Baker and Simon White

Winner: Babi Panjikar

Babi is based in Pune at DWF Mindcrest and leadsthe Data Analytics team. Babi keeps abreast of all the software and AI tools in the marketplace by being a key member of the mTech team. He is very good at understanding the needs of clients and ensuring the quality and efficiency of the work produced. 

Babi works closely with all of the teams within DWF Mindcrest whilst retaining a smile and sense of humour.

Babi is currently assisting the DWF team in Poland in setting up workflow and reporting tools for a  new project.

Well done Babi!

Shortlisted: Emma Clarke; Janzaib Ali and Sophie Parkin

Winner: Sophie Parkin

Sophie is a solicitor based in the UK. She has a strong work ethic and applies the DWF values in everything she does.

Over the past 18 months Sophie has consistently demonstrated her technical abilities and has expanded her experience. This has seen her take the lead role in some of the biggest cases her team is currently working on, operating at a level above her current PQE. 

Not only does Sophie apply the highest professional standards and technical excellence to these cases, she has taken this all in her stride and effortlessly handles all the challenges her work presents.

Sophie is pivotal in a number of cases and has embraced the role of project management where she is responsible for supervising peers and more senior members of the team, with regular reporting to Partners. 

Sophie impresses all with whom she works with, both internally and externally, including her work in high profile and complex cases.

Well done Sophie!

Shortlisted: Rebecca Southern; Souleymane Simpara and Stuart McCann

Winner: Souleymane Simpara

To make a big impression in the first year of joining any business is a huge achievement. However, to make such an impact during a year like 2020 is something else completely!

To win this award the winner has to be in their first year at DWF and making a great contribution to the business and have truly lived our values and shown excellence through their talent, skills and behaviours. In doing so, they have helped to make DWF a great place to work. 

Shortlisted: Ayaz Saboor; Chantal Charnock and Manuel Sánchez Huerta

Winner: Manuel Sánchez Huerta

Manuel is a junior lawyer in our Innovation Department in Madrid. He joined DWF as a trainee and has since shown he has a great deal of knowledge and understanding of his role at an early career stage. 

Manuel has been involved and added value in strategic matters since he started at DWF.

His participation in a benchmarking study was integral to the production of a draft document for one of our clients and the standard of his work was that exceptional that other clients have since asked for a similar service.

Well done Manuel!

Shortlisted: Hannah Twitchett; Ryan Moorcroft and Shravan Mehta

Winner: Ryan Moorcroft

This award is for someone who is transforming legal services through our people for our clients through their behaviours and commitment to our values. The winner needs to have made significant contributions to the success of DWF and been a role model to their peers and colleagues.

Well done Ryan!

Shortlisted: Archana Makol; Patricia Lerin and Rakesh Nadar

Winner: Patricia Lerin

Patricia is a Senior Associate in Madrid and was nominated for this award for her efforts in coordinating and managing the corporate team. Her empathy towards the team, as well as her ethics have boosted the team's morale and ultimately helped to achieve better results for our clients.

Patricia has been involved in a wide range of high-profile M&A and financial transactions including a pioneering project that will help provide access to e-sports for disabled people.

Patricia has made significant contributions to the success of DWF during this year and is a true role model to her peers and colleagues. 

Well done Patricia!

Winner: Luke Gollan

Luke is a Senior Associate in our Brisbane office and has been with DWF for six years. 

Luke has worked his way up the ranks in the insurance team working with a number of important clients in Australia and insurers in the London market and he was recently a finalist in the 2020 Australian Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 award for Health and Medical Law.  

Luke is a highly valued member of his team and with his professionalism, dedication and team-focused approach, epitomises what it means to live by the DWF values.

Well done Luke!