2025 Wig & Pen Prize for pro bono legal work awarded to Hogan Lovells’ Helen Boniface
Helen Boniface, Counsel at Hogan Lovells, has been awarded the 2025 Wig & Pen Prize in recognition of her exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to pro bono legal work - particularly in championing the rights of bereaved families and frontline social care workers.
Helen’s contribution to the legal profession spans more than 15 years, with 2024 alone seeing her dedicate over 840 hours to pro bono matters. As co-lead of Hogan Lovells’ Health and Safety Practice, she is known for her calm approach to complex and sensitive legal challenges, including major inquests, workplace fatalities, and public inquiries. She has also represented bereaved families following major UK terror attacks such as 7/7 Westminster, London Bridge and the Manchester Arena bombing. Her work has led to tangible improvements in public safety and policy reform, and she has long been regarded as a role model in both legal excellence and public service.
The judging panel also highlighted Helen’s work representing the National Association of Care and Support Workers (NACAS) in the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry. In a hybrid project combining pro bono and publicly funded work, Helen led a legal team representing care workers, many of whom had been overlooked, under-protected, and unfairly blamed during the pandemic. Her leadership ensured that their voices were heard at the highest levels and contributed to systemic changes in adult social care regulation and recognition.
Beyond this, Helen has built and sustained Hogan Lovells’ inquest pro bono practice for over a decade - providing vital legal support to bereaved families during some of the most traumatic moments in their lives. She has effectively given voice to the vulnerable and bereaved, ensuring public accountability and driving policy change.
Helen specialises in complex Coroner’s inquests, and uses judicial review where needed to drive systemic change, notably achieving High Court recognition of emotional abuse in a teenage girl’s suicide, a rare and pioneering outcome.
Commenting on the award, Helen Boniface said: “Far too often, bereaved families and individual victims find themselves as the only party in legal hearings without representation. Whether representing victims of terrorism, families affected by domestic abuse, or frontline social care workers, we seek to address this imbalance through the provision of impactful pro bono advice. I’m honoured to receive this year’s Wig & Pen prize, reflecting work done with my Hogan Lovells colleagues and barristers, and grateful to the CLSC and City of London Law Society for understanding the importance of pro bono work. The legal profession is home to so many talented people – it’s essential that we all continue to use our skills to ensure that access to justice is truly accessible to all.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
The City of London Law Society is the professional representative body for solicitors and law firms in the City of London, including all the largest national and international practitioners. Our membership takes in more than 22,000 solicitors and 70 corporate member firms.
For further information please contact Omeet Atara (Panterra) on +44 7387107136 or [email protected], and visit clls.org.