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James Libson receives History Maker Award from The University of Law

Posted on 12 March 2018

Mishcon de Reya Executive Partner James Libson has received a History Maker Award from The University of Law. James studied to be a lawyer there almost 30 years ago when it was called College of Law.

The award, inaugurated this year, is to honour alumni who are making an impact on the legal profession and on the world. James received the award in acknowledgement of the pre-eminent legal cases he's been involved with throughout his career.

James qualified as a lawyer in 1991 and has spent over 25 years providing a broad range of legal services to his clients including defamation, privacy and employment advice and acting in many high profile commercial disputes and ground-breaking discrimination cases. In 2000, he was part of the legal team that won a case for Deborah Lipstadt who had been sued by David Irving for calling him — correctly — a Holocaust denier in her 1993 book on the subject. In 2016, the trial was detailed in the film Denial, in which James was played by actor Jack Lowden. More recently, he acted for the lead claimant, Gina Miller, in the landmark case compelling the Government to seek Parliament’s authority to trigger Article 50. 

James has been Mishcon de Reya's Executive Partner and Head of Private since 2008. Along with the rest of the Board, he has overseen the firm's significant growth, including a total revenue increase of over 100% in the last five years. In 2017, he was recognised in The Lawyer Hot 100.

James received the award alongside fellow University of Law alumni Cherie Blair QC. In addition, two high-performing graduates at the start of their legal careers Lauren Jones and Catherine Brydges were announced as winners of the Future History Makers Awards.

You can view a short film from the event above. A transcript of James' acceptance speech is available here.

Mishcon de Reya

James Libson receives History Maker Award from The University of Law

 

Cherie Blair CBE QC

Hi, I’m Cherie Blair QC and I am the first University of Law History Maker. 

 

James Libson

Executive Partner, Mishcon de Reya

I am James Libson, I am the Executive Partner at Mishcon de Reya.

 

Cherie Blair CBE QC

Well, it’s a great privilege to be awarded the first University of Law History Maker Award.  I feel slightly old, but also really delighted because of the celebration of the achievements of the college over the years and all that it has achieved, all its alumni have achieved.

 

James Libson

Executive Partner, Mishcon de Reya

I am obviously exceptionally honoured to receive the award and it’s so lovely to have a reconnection with my alma mater, the College of Law which is now the University of Law.  It’s been a great privilege over the last couple of years to have made that reconnection. 

 

So, I landed on my feet 27 years ago when I started at Mishcon de Reya and I have been blessed and lucky since then to have worked in a firm that I love and to have done that work with like-minded colleagues and a collegiate, challenging and principled environment, is about as good as it gets. 

 

Cherie Blair CBE QC

It was my grandma’s admiration of Rose Heilbron that lit a fire in me and sometimes it really is true that seeing is believing, if you see someone like you succeed then you begin to believe that you too can succeed.  Tonight is a wonderful opportunity to re-affirm our shared commitment to helping others break through the barriers that litter their paths, blaze their own trails and realise their potential.

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