Lawyers Weekly was Highly Commended in the Business to Business Magazine of the Year category (circulation over 15,000), at last Friday’s Awards lunch. The award recognises magazine publishing excellence in editorial, content, journalism, production, graphics, design and layout, marketing, strategic planning and execution. Australian Doctor magazine — which along with Lawyers Weekly is part of the Reed Elsevier group — was the winner of this award.

Editor Kate Gibbs, who has been with Lawyers Weekly for two years, won the award for Best Editorial Issues Campaign for a series of articles, opinions and editorials about partner unhappiness.

Over several months, the campaign has alerted the industry to the worrying issue of many lawyers and partners working long hours with little or no career satisfaction. There is internal strife in some partnerships, the campaign has revealed, with many lawyers prepared to be miserable and make money.

The award recognises excellence in a continuous and vigorous editorial campaign which achieves maximum impact among readers. Judges said “the issue was of central relevance to the target audience and the articles and editorials were well written”.

This is the third consecutive year in which Lawyers Weekly has won the Editorial Issues award, following Kate Gibbs’ coverage of Women in Law last year, which continues, and the previous year’s investigation of workplace bullying within the legal profession by then News Editor Josh Massoud.

In addition, Gibbs was a finalist for Editor of the Year, which recognises outstanding achievement in editorial leadership of an individual business or consumer magazine title or titles. As well, Lawyers Weekly designer Alys Martin was a finalist for Graphic Designer of the Year, which recognises the best graphic designer in business to business publishing.

Gibbs was also a finalist in the Best Opinion Segment Series for her Leader columns. This award recognises the critical role the editor plays in aligning the magazine with the industry, the markets and the readership.

Sister publication Risk Management also took away an accolade, with Editor Stuart Fagg being a finalist for the Article of the Year award. Craig Donaldson, Editor of Lawyers Weekly’s other sister publication Human Resources,was also a finalist for Editor of the Year. Lawyers Weekly publisher LexisNexis came away with a Highly Commended acknowledgement for Best Internet Site for its www.infolink.com.au service.

Now in their tenth year, the Bell Awards are organised by Australian Business & Specialist Publishers, the industry’s peak body. They culminate in an awards ceremony and luncheon held in late November. Lawyers Weekly found itself ranged against a formidable number of entrants, including Dirt Action, which won Magazine of the Year, and New Scientist magazine, published by Reed Business Information.