Lorna Cservenka, head of the Child Care department at Hanne & Company’s London office, has won the title of Family Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards 2011. The award ceremony took place in London on 28 June with the announcements made by Cherie Booth QC.

Lorna was selected for her work on the ground-breaking LB Richmond v B & W & B & CB (2010) EWHC 2903 (Fam) child care case in which a mother stood to lose her children if she was found to be abusing alcohol.

Using dual-marker hair testing technology (FAEE and EtG) provided by Trimega Laboratories, Lorna succeeded in persuading the court that the mother had not been drinking, and this outcome was instrumental in reuniting her with her children. A previous single test conducted by another provider had suggested that the mother had been drinking. The mother wrote at the time of Lorna’s nomination: “She believed what I was saying and was relentless in getting more information on hair strand testing and helping me challenge the results.”

A conclusion of the case last year was that dual-marker hair alcohol tests should be used for cases where hair analysis is applied. Dual-marker testing provides accuracy rates of over 94%, with less than 1% risk of a false positive, and 5.75% risk of a false negative. At its annual conference in March, The Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) presented these findings, based on Trimega’s data set of approximately 2,000 dual hair tests, the largest of its kind in the world.

Avi Lasarow, CEO of Trimega Laboratories, said: “We are delighted that Lorna won the Family Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award and that she was able to use the Trimega dual-hair testing technology to help to reunite the mother in the case with her children. The award contributes to what is now a wide acknowledgement of the importance of dual-marker hair alcohol tests in providing high levels of accuracy about alcohol consumption over several months by parents and guardians in child custody cases.”

Lasarow continued: “Given the legal aid reforms, we are particularly conscious that the dual-hair marker test can cost more than alternatives, and we work hard to develop an appropriate pricing policy for our tests. However, the high levels of accuracy of dual-marker tests have been proved scientifically and the impact of that has been borne out in Lorna’s case. We firmly believe that dual-hair testing has a very important part to play in the body of evidence that determines the welfare of our children.”

Trimega commercialised the technological breakthrough of analysing human hair samples for alcohol, firmly believing that just as hair testing had become accepted by the industry as the ‘gold standard’ for analysis of drug abuse, hair testing for alcohol would receive similar recognition once it had been shown to be very accurate. One of Trimega’s key achievements was being the first to market with dual-marker hair alcohol testing. Hair testing can provide a picture of consumption during the previous six months. In contrast, traditional forms of testing, of blood and urine, can cover only the previous three days and four to six weeks respectively.

The Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards are organised by the Legal Aid Practioner Group, an independent organisation that represents 450 firms and not for profit organisations involved in the provision of publicly funded legal services. The awards are non-profit making.

Lorna Cservenka, head of the Child Care department at Hanne & Company’s London office, has been shortlisted for the title of Family Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards 2011.

Lorna was nominated for her work on the ground-breaking LB Richmond v B (2010) EWHC 2903 (Fam) child care case in which a mother stood to lose her children if she was found to be abusing alcohol.

Using dual-marker hair testing technology (FAEE and EtG) provided by Trimega Laboratories, Lorna succeeded in establishing that a single test conducted by another provider, which the provider said showed that the mother had been drinking, was flawed. The mother, whose children have been returned to her, wrote in support of Lorna’s nomination: “She believed what I was saying and was relentless in getting more information on hair strand testing and helping me challenge the results.”

A conclusion of the High Court judgment of the case last year was that only dual marker hair alcohol tests should be used for cases where hair analysis is applied. Dual hair testing provides very accurate results: at its annual conference in March, the Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) confirmed that dual testing on hair for alcohol misuse provides accuracy rates of over 94%, with less than 1% risk of a false positive, and just 5.75% risk of a false negative. The SoHT’s consensus was based on analysis of Trimega’s data set of approximately 2,000 dual hair testing samples, the largest of its kind in the world.

Avi Lasarow, CEO of Trimega Laboratories, said: “We are delighted that Lorna was able to use our dual-marker hair testing methodology to prove that the mother in the case hadn’t been abusing alcohol, enabling the return of her children. We are also very pleased that the outcome of Lorna’s hard work led to the High Court statement that dual hair tests should be used for hair alcohol analysis. These tests play a very important role in the body of evidence that help courts make appropriate decisions for the welfare of our children.”

Trimega commercialised the technological breakthrough of analysing human hair samples for alcohol, firmly believing that just as hair testing had become accepted by the industry as the ‘gold standard’ for analysis of drug abuse, hair testing for alcohol would receive similar recognition once it had been shown to be very accurate. One of Trimega’s key achievements was being the first to market with dual marker hair alcohol testing. Hair testing can provide a picture of consumption of the previous 6 months. In contrast, traditional forms of testing, of urine and blood, can cover only the previous three days and four to six weeks, respectively.

Lorna is one of the three finalists in the Family Legal Aid Lawyer award category. The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held in London on the 28th June. The judging panel includes Cherie Booth QC (who will present the awards); Doreen Lawrence of the Stephen Lawrence Trust; legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg, Mr Justice Andrew McFarlane QC from the Family Division; and LAPG chair Roy Morgan.

The Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards are organised by the Legal Aid Practioner Group, an independent organisation that represents 450 firms and not for profit organisations involved in the provision of publicly funded legal services. The awards are non-profit making.

It’s this time of year again where legal aid lawyers are recognised for their work and achievements under recognition of the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards, in its eighth year running.  The awards recognise the achievements of legal aid lawyers in the frontline of providing services in both criminal and civil legal aid.

Trimega sponsored the Social & Welfare Lawyer of the Year Award category which was awarded to Kathy Meade from Tower Hamlets Law Centre.  Trimega congratulates Kathy as a Solicitor and Caseworker who has shown dedication to providing vital services to some of the poorest communities in the UK.

The Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to leading legal aid barrister Michael Mansfield QC for his career at the Bar spanning 40 years.  Michael’s commitment to publicly-funded work includes key historical events:  the Orgreave miners, Guildford Four and Birmingham Six appeals, the Marchioness disaster, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, and the Stockwell shooting.  Upon accepting this award, Michael urged practitioners to fight threatened cuts in the legal aid budget.

Special congratulations also goes to the rest of the winners of the various categories:

Criminal defence lawyer - Peter Mahy, whose case before the European Court of Human Rights (S and Marper v UK) established it is unlawful to retain the DNA of innocent people.

Young legal aid solicitor - Katherine Craig, who specialises in actions against the police.

Young legal aid barrister - Adam Straw of Tooks Chambers for his work representing families at inquests.

Family legal aid lawyer - David Jockelson who has trained in psychotherapy and as a parenting workshop facilitator.

Mental health lawyer - Sophy Miles who has a raft of reported cases, including JE v DE, which was a leading decision about deprivation of liberty and mental capacity.

Immigration lawyer of the year - Amie Henshall who was praised for her ability to put vulnerable clients at ease.

Legal aid barrister - Mark Henderson who is highly regarded for his immigration work.

Legal aid firm/Not-for-profit agency - Just for Kids Law/Lawrence & Co which goes the extra mile to provide mentoring and other services to its young clients.