A SENIOR lawyer at a Colchester-based law firm has won a prestigious award at the Asian legal awards.

Suryen Nullatamby, a senior associate at Birkett Long, was named as Company and Commercial Lawyer of the Year at an awards ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London earlier this month.

The area in which Mr Nullatamby has honed his expertise, construction and engineering law, has seen him gain recognition both nationally and within the Asian community.

According to the solicitors regulation authority, only 12 per cent of solicitors practising in the UK are of south Asian heritage.

But Mr Nullatamby has made a concerted effort to create a team of dispute resolution lawyers at Birkett Long where at least one-third are from diverse or Asian backgrounds.

Having been called to the bar in 2004, Mr Nullatamby is now a senior associate solicitor and head of Birkett Long’s south Essex dispute resolution team.

Before starting in a career in law, however, Mr Nullatamby originally joined the army and spent four years in the police in his homeland of Mauritius, before he went onto pursue his law career.

Mr Nullatamby described the winning of the company and commercial lawyer of the year award as “a very proud moment".