Finalists in Excellence awards announced

Finalists in the Queensland Law Society Excellence in Law Awards have been announced this morning with two new awards being presented in 2024.

The awards and gala, which now include Pro Bono Team of the Year and Graduate Lawyer of the Year, will be held on Saturday, 24 August, at Brisbane City Hall.

College of Law Queensland is sponsoring the new Graduate Lawyer award.

Executive Director Ann-Maree David said: “The College of Law chose to sponsor the Graduate Lawyer of the Year Award because we are invested in the future of our profession, and our graduate community is a very big part of that.”

Finalists in the following categories are:

Access to Justice Award (sponsored by Bond University Faculty of Law)

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• Sarah Atkinson – Maurice Blackburn
• Coby Foster – Norton Rose Fulbright
• Stephen Grace – LawRight
• Jerry Tucker – Bottoms English Lawyers

Emerging Leader Award (sponsored by Dare)

• Nicholas Collier – Legal Services Commission
• Charlotte Evans – Results Legal
• Kate Molkentin – Results Legal
• Laryssa Perkins – McCullough Robertson
• Christopher Peppel – Carter Newell
• Jaya Prasad – New Hope Group

First Nations Student of the Year Award

• Juliet Biemann – University of Queensland
• Letitica Horsey – University of Queensland
• Stephanie Luyt – James Cook University
• Kiara Petterson – Bond University
• Rikisha Phineasa – James Cook University
• Jeremy Rigney – University of Southern Queensland
• Isabella Strauss – Queensland University of Technology
• Ruby Traucnieks – University of Queensland

In-house Counsel of the Year Award

• Shannon O’Hara – QBE Insurance
• Lisa Parker – Queensland Country Bank
• Andrew Stathooles – Office of Industrial Relations, Workplace Health and Safety

Queensland Solicitor of the Year – Sole Practitioner (sponsored by Pilot Partners)

• Rachael Bosnjak – Passage Legal
• John Christian – Victor Legal
• Charles Londy – Londy Lawyers
• Anna Morgan – Take Control Legal
• Nikolina Tully – Tully Law

Queensland Solicitor of the Year – Small firm: 2- 19 PCs (sponsored by Westpac)

• James Harding – Harding Property Law
• Leeha James – James Law
• Robert Sykes – AdAstra Legal
• George Sourris – Empire Legal
• Trent Wakerley – Kruger Law

Queensland Firm of the Year – Large firm: 20+ PCs (sponsored by First Title)

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• Crispian Carlowe – Unified Lawyers
• Danielle Gill – Taylor Rose Australia
• Brett Heading – Hamilton Locke
• Lisa Taylor – Taylor Rose Australia
• Jonathan Walsh – Maurice Blackburn Lawyers

Regional Practitioner of the Year

• Kylie Anderson – Legal Aid Queensland
• Mark Fenlon – National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
• Vicki Jackson – South Geldard
• Beth Rolton – Travis Schultz & Partners
• Tanya Straguszi – Maurice Blackburn Lawyers

Graduate Lawyer of the Year (sponsored by College of Law Queensland)

• Isabella Busby – Allens
• Christine Eldridge – Shine Lawyers
• Paige Hetherington – Skuse Graham Criminal Lawyers
• Yakira Walmsley – Francis Family Law
• Jingyi (Veronika) Xiao – Results Legal

The judging panels have confirmed winners for the following categories and will proceed directly to the announcement at the QLS Excellence in Law Awards Gala:

Agnes McWhinney Award

Employer of Choice Award (sponsored by legalsuper)

First Nations Solicitor of the Year Award

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Pride in Law Award

Pro Bono Team of the Year

Tickets are available now.