Lou Crisfield wins legal aid lawyer of the year

Lou Crisfield, housing case worker at Miles & Partners, has won Social and Welfare Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2016.

Lou, who was presented with her award at a prestigious ceremony on Bishopsgate on 7th July, used to be a carpenter before starting work in housing law. Her clients have included a disabled man living in a second floor flat, who had only left the building twice in a year, both times having to be carried down by ambulance staff. With Lou’s help, he was rehoused in wheelchair-accessible accommodation.

The prestigious awards are organised by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group to celebrate the work and achievements of lawyers committed to working for publicly funded clients. In winning this award Lou joins previous Miles & Partners winners, Sarah Cove who won the family law LALY in 2015 and Sophy Miles and David Jockelson who won LALYs in 2010 for their achievements in the categories of Mental Health and Family Law, as well as the ranks of other trail-blazing lawyers like Louise Christian, Imran Khan, Michael Mansfield QC and Gareth Peirce.

Phil Walsh, partner and practice manager at Miles & Partners said, “We are immensely proud of Lou and the work that she does and so pleased that she has been recognised in this well deserved award.”

Lou Crisfield, said, “I am really proud and humbled to win this award. Housing is a basic right that is becoming harder and harder for people on low incomes to secure and keep. The most basic safety nets are being eroded and legal representation is sometimes the only way of keeping someone off the streets.

My Clients are an inspiration. I love what I do, and am very encouraged by the support of the fantastic team at Miles & Partners.”

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