A Gwent lawyer has fought off competition from across the UK to be named Conveyancer of the Year at a recent national industry awards ceremony.

Janine Edwards, head of the property team at Watkins & Gunn Solicitors, scooped the coveted title at this year’s Modern Law Conveyancing Awards held at the Rum Warehouse in Liverpool.

Ms Edwards, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, was chosen as the winner after demonstrating her commitment to the profession, customer service and how her approach has made a difference to Watkins & Gunn Solicitors’ property team and its clients.

Ms Edwards said: “I feel very honoured to have been chosen as the Conveyancer of the Year. There are so many excellent conveyancers across the country, so to be named the winner is a massive achievement and one that I’m very proud of.

“Since joining Watkins & Gunn Solicitors, I have always looked for new ways to add value to our clients and offer them a high quality service and to be recognised in this way, at such a prestigious award ceremony, is a huge highlight in my career.”

Watkins & Gunn Solicitors, which has offices in Pontypool, Newport and Cardiff, was also highly commended in the Conveyancing Firm of the Year Wales award for its ethos of ‘exceeding client expectations’ and delivering a high quality service to all clients.

Clive Thomas, managing partner at Watkins & Gunn Solicitors, said: “We are very proud of Janine’s achievement. She is an exceptional conveyancer who works extremely hard and has been instrumental to our conveyancing team’s success.

“She is a worthy winner of the award and we’re delighted that she has been recognised as the leading conveyancer across England and Wales.

“Our conveyancing department has been performing very well and I’m thrilled that the whole department was ‘highly commended’ in the category of Conveyancing Firm of the Year in Wales.

“We are looking forward to seeing our conveyancing department continue to thrive and grow under Janine’s leadership.”

The Modern Law Conveyancing Awards were launched by the Modern Law magazine, and aim to celebrate firms which are championing client care and taking the lead in finding unique solutions for clients.

Previous award wins for Watkins & Gunn Solicitors include being named the 360 Legal Law Firm of the Year, receiving the Law Society’s Excellence Award for Practice Management, and the Legal Services Team of the Year (one to 10 partners) at the Claims Innovation Awards.