A young lawyer from Allens Arthur Robinson took home the 2010 Michael Page Young Gun Award, recognising the finest lawyers in their first five years of practice, at the inaugural Lawyers Weekly Icon Awards, held in Sydney on Thursday.

The judges named Allens’ Fergus Green as the winner in the most popular of the Awards’ categories, for his work advising corporate and government clients on issues ranging from emissions trading to forestry offsets.

Still in the early years of his career, Fergus attended the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference last year where he represented small Pacific Island states volunteering as a policy adviser to Project Survival Pacific, while also received a leadership development fellowship at the Centre for Sustainability Leadership and has given regular presentations to staff and clients at Allens, and is fast becoming a leader in the field of climate change and environmental law and policy.

Highly commended in this category was Stacks/Goudkamp director Jnana Gumbert, for her successful handing of numerous and prominent personal injury cases on behalf of plaintiffs, as well as her recent appearance representing the Australian Lawyers Alliance (of which she is NSW president) at a senate enquiry into the motor accident scheme in NSW.

Other finalists included Gadens’ Scott Higgins, Lawyer, Gadens Lawyers for his work in the emerging area of climate change law, and Lander & Rogers senior associate Gavin Hollamby, recognised for his excellent legal skills and long list of community and pro bono work – including with the Redfern Legal Service, the Prahran Legal Service, and via a range of matters on everything from professional indemnity to medical negligence and public liability claims.

The 2010 Lawyers Weekly Icon Awards, recognising excellence, innovation and leadership in the Australian legal profession, were held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Sydney on Thursday.

>> Click here to read the full report on all the 2010 Lawyers Weekly Icon Award winners, and don’t miss full coverage of the event in the special Lawyers Weekly 500th edition, on desks on 27 August, 2010.