We are pleased to share the news that Bindmans LLP founding partner, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC, has received the Lifetime Contribution Award at the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2023 in recognition of the sustained and significant impact he has made in the legal world throughout his career.

Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC (Hon) has led an incredibly varied and impactful career, taking the role of legal adviser to the Race Relations Board from 1966-1976, and thereafter until 1983 to the Commission for Racial Equality. He has represented the International Commission of Jurists, the International Bar Association, Amnesty International, and other bodies in human rights missions in countries, including the former Soviet Union, Germany, South Africa, Chile, Uganda, Namibia, Malaysia, Israel and the Occupied Territories, and Northern Ireland. In 1988 he was a member of a UK mission monitoring the constitutional referendum in Chile, and in 1994 was a United Nations Observer at the first democratic elections in South Africa.

Sir Geoffrey co-founded Bindmans LLP (then Bindmans and Partners) in 1974 with the aim of protecting the rights and reputations of local Londoners, the firm soon became well-known for its work in human rights and civil liberties. Sir Geoffrey has been involved with many significant cases that have influenced the landscape of the law, some of which he has discussed in the Bindmans Archives podcast which can be found here.

Under Sir Geoffrey’s leadership and beyond, Bindmans has continued to pioneer the development of human rights practice. In recognition of his significant work in this field, Sir Geoffrey was knighted in January 2007 for services to human rights, and in March 2011 he was appointed honorary Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel).

In 1982, Sir Geoffrey was Visiting Professor of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles, and in 2000 he received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University. He also has an honorary doctorate from Kingston University, and is a former chair of the Board of Trustees at the British Institute of Human Rights. He continues with several academic engagements today, as a Visiting Professor of Law at University College London and at London South Bank University, an Honorary Fellow in Civil Legal Process at the University of Kent, and a Fellow of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies. He continues to write articles and thought pieces featured in The Guardian and The New Law Journal, frequently sought after for his insight on human rights, anti-discrimination law, and the landscape of the legal profession.

Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC (Hon) comments:

It is a very great honour to receive this award. The impressive array of winners at the LexisNexis 2023 legal awards demonstrates that the sponsors and judges recognise that the legal profession serves the public as a whole, rich and poor, and that we and the government have a shared responsibility to promote justice for all. Sadly, our present government by starving legal aid and by seeking to undermine our commitment to human rights, has not lived up to this obligation.

Jon Crocker, Managing Partner at Bindmans LLP, comments:

On behalf of everyone at Bindmans, I would like to congratulate Sir Geoffrey on receiving this award in recognition of the significant impact he has made to his clients, society and to the legal profession throughout his career.

Sir Geoffrey’s dedication to justice and human rights has been inspirational, and his unwavering commitment to defending those who cannot defend themselves has made an important, positive difference to so many. Throughout his career, Sir Geoffrey has set the standard for excellence and professionalism, demonstrating a deep knowledge of the law and an unyielding passion for using it to protect and uphold the rights of all people.

Sir Geoffrey’s legacy will continue to inspire generations of lawyers at Bindmans and beyond for years to come.