Lady SAL’s Society Paper
Dearest Gentle Reader,
The night of the 15th of November 2025 held the most spectacular event of the season, the 30th Asian Legal Awards 2025! The legal ton and guests were adorned the most wonderous outfits, so graceful and colourful. It was a very welcome fusion of diverse outfits of many an origin.
The legal ton were met in the foyer of the elegantly decorated Nines Suite at none other than 5-star venue, The Royal Lancaster in the most fashionable part of West London.
The evening opened with a warm welcome to guests to the President’s Drinks Reception sponsored by LEAP Legal Software, where bubbles, cocktails and mocktails flowed freely with the accompaniment of the first of many finest courses from Madhus.
Our fabulous President, Muntech Kaur took to the stage to begin the Awards evening. It was a privilege to highlight and celebrate the election of the Society of Asian Lawyers (“SAL”) first ever female President and first ever all-female committee!
This was followed by hearing from our chosen Charity Partner of 2025/26, Children not Numbers, who carry out considerable work giving support to children affected in countries affected by war. A video shown to the legal ton demonstrated the devastating conditions that affect many children and the extraordinary work done by members of the charity that make a notable difference to the lives of so many children.
The link to donate to the charity: Society of Asian Lawyers: Make a donation to support children in Gaza – Children Not Numbers
The legal ton were very generous in their support and donations on the night and beyond, showing their appreciation for the work done by Children Not Numbers.
Guest speaker, Her Honour Judge Anuja Dhir KC, was a true inspiration whose speech of her own journey to the position of Old Bailey Judge and the importance of representation and diversity in the legal profession was moving, and further fuelled determination to contribute to increasing diversity, equality and inclusion within the legal profession.
It was the moment that everyone had been waiting for…the announcement of this year’s shortlist and winners. Jags DeSouza, SAL Committee Member, gracefully introduced all of the finalists for each of the categories, starting with the Rising Star Award, sponsored by the Society of Asian Lawyers:
Rajiv Nilesh Samani;
Isma Ayub Qadir;
Simran Kaur Kang;
Shaili Gohil-Desai; and
Natasha Khalique
Jaya Sudera, SAL Committee Member was called up to read out the winner for this award, Shaili Gohil-Desai!
Next, was the Criminal Lawyer of the Year Award, sponsored by the esteemed Crown Prosecution Service. The finalists were:
Bashrat Hussain;
Gul Nawaz Hussain KC; and
Mariam Syed KC.
The CPS presented this award to the winner, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC!
The Civil Lawyer of the Year, sponsored by the Society of Asian Lawyers. The finalists were:
Kim Lehal;
Fezaa Z Sheikh;
Hans Sok Appadu;
Mani Singh Basi; and
Rohana Abeywardana.
Sangita Bodalia, SAL Committee Member and a former winner of the Civil Lawyer of the year Award, presented this award to the winner, Kim Lehal!
Following on was the Company & Commercial Lawyer of the Year, sponsored by the Society of Asian Lawyers the finalists were:
Mandy Kaur;
Rashpal Kaul;
Mandeep Singh Dhingra;
Reena Parmar; and
Anamika Pandey.
Sonya Kalyan, SAL Committee Member, presented this next award to the winner, Mandy Kaur!
The final award was the Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by the Society of Asian Lawyers presented by our President, Muntech Kaur, the finalists were:
(Late) Deputy District Judge Lovell Chohan;
Jaswant Kaur Narwal;
Sushila Abraham;
Teertha Gupta KC; and
Reena Parmar.
The winner of this award was Jaswant Kaur Narwal! Upon receiving her Award, Miss Narwal, a true crusader of justice, presented a truly inspirational speech set to motivate the next generation of lawyers.
With the Awards presented to well-deserved winners, a hearty dinner and dessert followed. The spiced aromas danced amongst the fruitful, happy and insightful conversations that spilled throughout the audience.
Shortly after dessert, Bhangra dancers from Gabru Furteley entered the dancefloor and gave us an outstanding performance that had everyone standing, ready to dance! The upbeat performance lead perfectly to everyone flooding the dancefloor and losing themselves in the music provided by Paragon.
To aid a grand finale for the night, fabulous Dhol players from the Ministry of Dhol and Miss MOD gave an outstanding performance in true “chak de phatte” style and brought everyone to the dancefloor. The melodies were spectacular and spanned from Bollywood and Punjabi music to Abba and Latin music that had everyone glued to the dancefloor all the way through to the end of the night.
Of course, no night would be complete without the novelty conga line, bringing even the most of reserved legal ton to grace the dancefloor.
The Society of Asian Lawyers extends our thanks to everyone who helped make the Asian Legal Awards 2025 possible.
Now whether you were there or not in 2025, you really ought to be there in 2026. Word has it, or as the legal ton say “I am informed and verily believe”, we shall shortly know of the date of the Asian Legal Awards 2026.
Yours truly,
Lady SAL
