Celebrating excellence: SL5 earns double LALY recognition

SL5 Legal proudly celebrated major recognition at the 2025 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards (LALYs), held in London on 4 July 2025. These prestigious national awards highlight the outstanding work of legal aid practitioners who defend human rights, champion fairness and ensure access to justice where it is most needed.

This year, SL5 Legal achieved the remarkable distinction of having two finalists at the LALYs — a rare accomplishment for any prison law firm. The nominations recognised the firm’s consistent record of success across judicial reviews, parole hearings, prisoner rights cases and wider criminal justice reform work.

Among the firm’s achievements this year were:

• Successful challenges to unfair recall and recategorisation decisions

• Ground-breaking work in securing licence termination for IPP prisoners

• Significant results in complex parole matters, including releases and reconsiderations

• Strategic litigation protecting procedural fairness and access to oral hearings

• Advocacy that has helped restore hope and rebuild futures for long-term prisoners

These successes reflect SL5 Legal’s unwavering commitment to people in prison — a client group whose struggles are often hidden and whose voices are too often unheard.

The firm’s recognition at the LALYs underlines an important truth: legal aid work changes lives. The tireless efforts of SL5 Legal’s lawyers ensure that clients are treated with dignity, fairness and humanity, no matter the circumstances of their past.

SL5 Legal Director, Andrew Sperling, said: “This recognition is a tribute to the dedication, determination and expertise of our whole team. We are proud to stand up every day for clients who depend on the protection of the law.”

Being shortlisted at the LALYs is an honour in itself — a celebration of the professionalism, resilience and passion that drive SL5 Legal’s mission to secure justice for those society too often overlooks.

The team looks forward to building on this year’s successes in 2026, continuing to campaign for fair treatment, accountability and real opportunities for change across the prison and criminal justice system.

Yasmin Karabasic

Yasmin Karabasic was awarded the Legal Aid Newcomer title for her outstanding work advocating for people in prison. Her practice spans complex parole cases, judicial reviews and security-category challenges — always with a focus on dignity, fairness and the human stories behind each case. Her professionalism and compassion have rebuilt hope for many clients who felt unheard within the system.

Emma McClure

Emma McClure was recognised as a finalist in the Criminal Defence category — a significant achievement for a specialist in prisoner rights. Her tenacity in representing IPP prisoners, and her success in securing licence terminations and holding decision-makers to account, has led to life-changing outcomes for individuals and their families.