Legal team scoop regional and national awards

The University’s in-house legal team are celebrating after winning regional and national awards to acknowledge how they rose to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rachel Main, Hannah Fraser and Esha Goswami were named as the In-house Legal Team of the Year at the 2022 Yorkshire Legal Awards, being commended as  “…a fine team representing a Yorkshire institution. This team does compelling work that really impresses, demonstrating superb talent and expertise that are a credit to both the organisation and the region. This team sets the standard for in-house legal services.”

The legal team offer legal advice on all aspects of the University’s work, from contracts to complaints and provides updates on legislation to the University Council and  colleagues across the institution. They are also responsible for providing advice and guidance on data protection-related issues, including managing data breaches, subject access requests and creating data protection templates.

Despite being forced to work remotely for months during the pandemic, the team’s dedication saw them earning Customer Service Excellence accreditation as well as the prestigious Lexcel  accreditation, awarded by the Law Society for excellence in legal practice management and client care.

And in a double celebration for the University’s legal team, Rachel has also been named as Lawyer Monthly’s UK Education Lawyer of the Year.

“It is great to be recognised by your peers,” says Rachel. “Lawyer Monthly is read around the world, so it is nice to have that kind of recognition and to know that someone has nominated you. It was totally unexpected.

“The team here really dug deep during the pandemic, and they fully deserve the Yorkshire award. It was lovely to be able to attend the award ceremony after being unable to meet up with people for so much of the past two and a half years. There are some outstanding legal teams working in organisations across Yorkshire, so to be recognised like this is a real honour.”

There was more recognition for the University of Huddersfield at the Yorkshire Legal Awards. Zira Hussain, who picked up the Family Law award, graduated from the university in 1997 and she says that her time here shaped her entire career.

“The University of Huddersfield was absolutely instrumental in my legal career,” says Zira.

“There is no way I would have got to where I am now without the phenomenal support I had from people like Sue Lazer and Dr Paul Richards when I was there. 

“Everything I have done since is down to the grounding I had in Huddersfield. The encouragement I had was wonderful, and even all these years later I am so grateful to the institution.”