The South London Legal Partnership (SLLP), made up of Sutton, Merton, Richmond and Kingston councils, has been shortlisted for four more national industry awards on top of its three other national award nominations.
The SLLP’s digital courtroom – paperless courtrooms that could save more than £1m for the justice system in London alone if huge bundles of legal documents are made available online instead of being couriered to court – has been shortlisted for the Business Transformation; Driving Efficiency Through Technology; Efficiency; and Innovation categories in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards.
Digital courtrooms already operate in three of London’s Family Courts, with the boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth subscribing to the service. The SLLP team is in talks with other boroughs to roll it out across London and regionally.
Cllr Simon Wales, Deputy Leader of Sutton Council and Lead Member for Resources, said:
“Sutton is at the forefront of sharing services with other south London boroughs in order to pool resources to provide high-quality resilient services and save money in the process.
“We are immensely proud of the hard work and expertise of the South London Legal Partnership team. The team has already been shortlisted for three national legal awards and we hope they will be successful in winning these further four awards.”
Cllr Stephen Alambritis, Leader of Merton Council, said:
“Being shortlisted in four categories in the Local Government Chronicle Awards shows we are leading the way with our combined legal expertise in south London and beyond. This partnership and the way it delivers services to the residents of south London is really innovative and I’m delighted that it has been shortlisted for these awards.”
Lord True, Leader of Richmond Council, said:
“Yet again our Legal Partnership has been recognised for leading the way in local government. We know that partnership is the way forward for all councils. The success of the South London Legal Partnership has already proved that joining forces with other boroughs can make a positive difference in providing a quality in-house legal service while making significant financial savings.
“These award nominations just highlight that by working together we can be more efficient and innovative, transforming our businesses for the better.”
Cllr Kevin Davis, Leader of Kingston Council, said:
“We strive to be best in class. The legal partnership is a great example of effective collaboration, and paperless courtrooms are an efficient use of technology. Kingston Council is committed to transforming services and trying new things that will help us to be more sustainable in the future.”
The latest nominations bring the number of awards the SLLP is up for to seven. The SLLP team is awaiting the results of three other industry awards nominations this month – a UK IT Industry Award in the UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship category; the Innovative Lawyer/Innovation Team of the Year category of the Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) Local Government Legal Awards; and Local Authority Family Team of the Year in the Family Law Awards.
The LGC Awards winners will be announced at an event in London on Wednesday 8 March 2017.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The UK IT Industry Awards are in London on Wednesday 16 November.
The LLG Local Government Legal Awards 2016 are in Leeds on Friday 18 November.
The Family Law Awards are in London on Wednesday 23 November.