Stratford-upon-Avon lawyer Alex Robinson has received a special award after coming “top of the class”.
An associate in the agriculture and estates team at Lodders Solicitors, she recently achieved Fellowship of the Agricultural Law Association, an accolade which confirms her expertise and experience in the sector.
But she didn’t just pass – she achieved the highest mark in the exam for 2011 Fellowship entrants.
And she was awarded the ALA Chairman’s Trophy, presented to her at a ceremony held at the start of an association meeting at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire.
She said: “Fellowship is recognised as a badge of excellence and I was thrilled to have achieved it.
“But I was overjoyed to learn I was the leading candidate – to receive the Chairman’s Trophy is indeed an honour and an inspiration.”
Senior partner David Lodder paid tribute to Alex’s hard work and dedication.
“She exemplifies the talent that is coming through in Lodders and we are very proud of this latest accolade,” he said.
Geoff Whittaker, consultant and adviser to the ALA, who made the presentation on behalf of current chairman, Andrea Nicholls, of Keystone Law, London, said: “The trophy is awarded each year to the Fellowship candidate who, in the opinion of the independent examiners, has delivered the best examination paper.
“We’re delighted that Alex produced a high-quality paper fully deserving of the award.”
The ALA was founded in 1975 and has a membership of over 1,l00 comprising lawyers, surveyors, valuers, bankers, farm business consultants and others. It is the UK’s largest inter-professional organisation for advisers in rural business.
It exists to promote the knowledge, understanding and development of the law relating to agriculture and related businesses.
Fellowship is awarded to members who complete a five-day course of tuition and pass the subsequent written examination. The programme has been running for three years with 54 Fellowships awarded, but only four, including Mrs Robinson, are in the West Midlands.
Mrs Robinson qualified as a Master of Arts in Classics and then followed her original career goal to become a lawyer.
Also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and a member of the Country Land and Business Association, she was the first legal executive that Lodders had ever promoted to associate.
She specialises in agricultural property transactions and acts in relation to highways, private rights of way and access to land, grants of easement and wayleaves, adverse possession claims and boundary disputes, restrictive covenants, and complex Land Registry voluntary registrations.