A former Ince & Co partner jailed for stealing millions of pounds from clients has been crowned ‘Lawyer of the Year'.

In 2013 Andrew Iyer was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail for defrauding Ince & Co and its clients of £3 million. During his trial it was revealed that Iyer tried to secure an OBE by writing to the Home Office pretending to be a (fictitious) cancer specialist called 'Elizabeth Herring'. RollOnFriday discovered that he also deployed the fishy Herring to give his self-published novel, 'The Betrayed', a five star review on Amazon.

Iyer was struck off, but on his release from prison he established a new legal advice business, IYLegal. And now Corporate Livewire, a company which pumps out awards (and trophies and directory profiles for payment) has named Iyer "Lawyer of the Year for Energy & Natural Resources" in its 'Global Legal Awards 2016'. It said its judging panel "placed each shortlisted candidate under acute scrutiny", and that Iyer had "proven to be of high caliber, showing a strong motivation and drive to achieve fantastic results within the legal community". His business also appeared to sponsor the awards:



However Corporate Livewire denied that its panel was influenced by any payment. Spokesman David Bateson told RollOnFriday that only two of the six judges were Corporate Livewire employees, and that in any event they picked the winners before contacting them with the opportunity to pay for a profile in the brochure or to sponsor the awards*.

Iyer said, "I just paid for a profile page in the booklet after I was notified of the Award.  That my firm’s logo appears at the foot of the front page does not mean I sponsored the Awards". He told RollOnFriday, "I was very surprised to win an award in the circumstances, but having won did not want to miss a chance to appear in their publication; just like all the other lawyers that appear. Let's face it, my PR opportunities are limited these days". He said, "I make sure I do the right thing these days, especially where my legal services businesses is concerned, having got it so wrong in the past.".

*RollOnFriday has no such procedures in place, nor ethical qualms. Individuals wishing to win a desirable 'RollOnFriday Lawyer of the Year' award, made entirely from recycled materials, should send a cheque for £1,000 to RollOnFriday Ltd, Hamilton House, 1 Temple Avenue, EC4Y 0HA. The judges' decision is final: it costs £1,000.