The team at Hilary Meredith Solicitors are thrilled to win this most prestigious award. The firm has only been established since October 2003 and to win Law Firm of the Year among such distinguished company and up against two giants in the legal world is an amazing achievement for us.

Since we opened our doors for business the firm has gone from strength to strength and we now employ 36 highly trained members of staff. We were awarded our Lexcel status within eight months of business and at the end of our second year achieved a turnover of £2.6m. The firm is on track this year to increase turnover to over £4m with around 200 new claims a month.

We continue to establish our specialism in armed forces work worldwide, including cases from Iraq and Afghanistan. It is, we feel, the firm's achievements in this field that helped secure the winning position.

The firm works closely with the Ministry of Defence and its insurers, notifying them of trends in accidents and reaching amicable settlements by out of court, round table discussions wherever possible.

Hilary Meredith has worked with the House of Commons select defence committee in paving the way for improvements for injured military personnel and is currently a member of the Royal British Legion, House of Commons and House of Lords gulf war committee.

Hilary Meredith Solicitors also secured this year a major insurance client in Trinity Insurance which specialises in before-the-event insurance for military personnel.

We would like to thank all the judges and sponsors especially those who helped us to party until dawn on the night.