A NEW award for promising law scholars created in memory of a prominent local lawyer who passed away in October 2023 has been won by a Wrexham University student.

After winning the award in the Wrexham University Law Department client interview competition, Caitlyn Crowley was presented with a cheque at the Grosvenor Road offices of GHP Legal this week, where later she will also have the opportunity for work experience.

Commenting on the law firm’s link with the University, Dylan Jones, a senior lecturer in the law department, said it was helpful to have ties with local businesses.

Unveiled portraits of Gwilym Caesar Hughes, painted by Chris ScottUnveiled portraits of Gwilym Caesar Hughes, painted by Chris Scott (Image: GHP Legal)

The Gwilym Hughes Memorial prize was instigated by the leading North Wales and Shropshire law firm in memory of founding partner Gwilym Caesar Hughes.

Originally a partner in the Wrexham and Shotton practice of Cyril Jones & Co, Mr Hughes and two fellow partners set up their own practice of Gwilym Hughes & Partners in 1970.

The firm later rebranded as GHP Legal and became one of the largest and most successful independent law firms in North Wales and the Shropshire borders.

Caitlyn Crowley was presented with her prize by Euros Jones, a partner of GHP Legal and Joint Head of Crime. He said: “Gwilym Hughes was energetic, charismatic and had a zest for life that continued into and beyond his retirement.

"He was the perfect example of someone able to talk to anyone, putting clients at ease and making them comfortable, which was why the ‘Wrexham University Law Department client interview competition’ was the perfect fit for the GH Memorial prize.”

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Also present at the prizegiving were Gwilym Hughes’s son, Christian, who had the pleasure of seeing the unveiling of three portraits of his father, commissioned after his death by GHP Legal.

The portraits were painted by Chris Scott, a consultant solicitor who has worked for GHP Legal since 2006.

Christian said his father was always looking at training future solicitors and invested time in his ‘articled clerks’ and ‘trainees’, an ethos that continues to this day with GHP Legal offering one of the most prolific solicitor training programmes in the region.