London - The British Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, narrowly beat the former Northern Ireland multi-party talks chairman, Senator George Mitchell, last night to win the Legal Personality of the Year award at a ceremony in London, writes Rachel Donnelly.
The annual award, which is voted for by readers of The Lawyer magazine and the legal profession, was presented to Lord Irvine in recognition of his reform of the legal profession during the past year including his attempts to regulate the fees charged by barristers. The editor of The Lawyer, Ms Mary Heaney, said Mr Mitchell had won the Silver Award for personality of the year because of the role he played in the Northern Ireland peace talks.