Judges Q&A

Awards are an incredibly important part of recognising excellence and endeavour in industry. Alongside being recognized by your peers, awards serve to increase your profile, reinforce your reputation and can be an effective part of your overall marketing strategy in making both your professional and local communities aware of what sets you apart from your competitors. 

Win or lose, in the lead up to the event, during the event and afterwards, your name will be splashed around, with industry experts, clients and potential clients becoming aware of you delivering a welcome boost to your brand.

There are a couple of keys things to consider when looking at entering. 1) if it’s your first time, don’t expect to win, or necessarily be shortlisted. It can take time to fully understand what the judges are looking for in an entry and it’s not always an overnight success. 

Writing an awards application is a meticulous. It takes time and no little skill to write a submission which grabs judges’ attention (remember, they read A LOT of submissions, what sets yours apart!?). Make sure you read the criteria carefully and answer the question. 

Choose your category(s) carefully. Which one do you feel gives you the best chance of winning. What have you done that makes your business stand out against the criteria. Does the criteria fit in with an overall business strategy to become better known/recognized as an industry expert in? For example, if you’re building messaging around staff welfare, is there a category which enables you to show off the work you’re doing? 

And finally, go along to the awards themselves, even if you’re not shortlisted. They are a fantastic networking opportunity and you get to meet like-minded businesses and individuals… and you might learn a thing or two about your submission for next year!

It’s a little bit like going back to school. You MUST answer the question. Sometimes the judges are not subject matter experts and won’t necessarily understand some of the nuances of your submission. You must make it clear how and why your submission fulfils the category criteria. 

Don’t make sweeping statements, back your points up with facts and evidence. And try to make the writing style and content of the submission interesting… don’t forget the judges will be reading a lot of submissions and you need to ensure that yours is memorable. Don’t be afraid to expand your vocabulary and use attention grabbing words and phrases.

Paralegals, in all their forms, are the backbone of the industry, often working in the shadows and these awards shine a much-needed light on the vital role they play in the delivery of Legal Services in the marketplace. This is something I am passionate about having started my career as a paralegal via an apprenticeship scheme.

Do it now! Entering the awards will allow you to reflect upon the great work you have done to date.

Winning or being highly commended will give you fantastic kudos and, as I know from personal experience, it will be a great way of promoting you and your business to potential and existing clients. So many businesses say they offer a great service, but it is much more powerful to be able to say you offer award winning great service!

The judges are looking for cogent high quality evidence of what you have done. Evidence of work done backed up by praise received from clients will be a particularly strong entry. 

Make sure you set the scene for the work you have done and really explain what made that piece of work particularly difficult. Detail any challenges, personal and case related that you had to overcome and finally make the entry easy to follow and understand.

Being shortlisted for an award, let alone winning one, is a powerful endorsement of your achievements. It is a great way to showcase what you have to offer and will help build trust with your clients and other professionals. The National Paralegal Awards gives you a huge platform to shine a light on your talent, so have the courage of your convictions and enter.

Commitment, excellence, adaptability, innovation and client service - these are all key characteristics I will be looking for, on top of a solid legal foundation. At Clerksroom we have won quite a few awards of our own and understand that the secret of a great awards entry is to tell a story that demonstrates how you have delivered beyond expectations, backed up with hard evidence. 

The legal market is pretty good at celebrating success but it is regularly focused in the same areas and at the same level. It is fantastic that these awards celebrate the incredible work of paralegals, the foundation of the industry. It is such a privilege to be involved this year and play a part in shining a light on the great work so many fantastic paralegals deliver across the UK.

It's a fantastic opportunity to showcase your achievements and all you do. Be proud of all you've accomplished and don't be afraid of throwing your hat in the ring and submitting an entry for consideration. There's nothing to lose and so much to gain!

Going above and beyond the day-to-day expectations. The National Paralegal Awards recognise the absolute best paralegals in the UK in each field. I want entrants who aren't afraid of their accomplishments and are proud of their significant achievements over the last twelve months. Those who can do so and really evidence their successes will be the entrants who stand-out from the crowd.