Kent's Wild named general counsel of the year at British Legal Awards

The Director of Governance and Law at Kent County Council, Geoff Wild, has been named General Counsel of the Year at the British Legal Awards.

It is understood to be the first time that a public sector lawyer has won this category at the BLA, which are run by Legal Week.

The other lawyers nominated for the award were Belinda Fawcett of Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), Dominic Kay of Four Seasons Health Care
and Keith Benjamin of Jaguar Land Rover.

The award comes just weeks after Wild was named Legal Industry Pioneer of the Year at the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers Awards. That award was principally for the local authority’s Law:Public venture, which it set up with Geldards.

In April this year, Kent Legal Services adopted a revised strategy aimed at delivering £1m in savings for the county council over the next 12 months and £3m by 2014.

The Evolution process, as it is known, was also expected to lead to the department becoming a regional hub for the South East as well as the launch of an alternative business structure in conjunction with Geldards.