A Leicester law firm has been honoured at the annual Law Society Excellence Awards.

Douglas Wemyss won the excellence in client service category during the prestigious awards ceremony at the Old Billingsgate centre, in Lower Thames Street, London, earlier this week.

The firm was nominated in five categories, and chief executive Sameer Karim was highly commended in the leader of the year category.

More than 600 legal professionals and guests joined president of the Law Society John Wotton and BBC broadcaster Mishal Husain at a presentation ceremony.

Douglas Wemyss, based in Friar Lane, Leicester, was up against some of the biggest names in the industry.

It was shortlisted for excellence in marketing and business development, for excellence in innovation, and – along with Harvey Ingram – in the Excellence in Community Investment category.

Mr Karim said it was a great achievement for the firm to do so well and recognised the hard work and passion of the staff. He said it recognised changes made in response to the deregulation of the legal sector, known as 'Tesco Law'.

Commenting on his personal recognition, he said: "This award means something very special to me as I have lived the last three years battling the recession as well as the changes within our industry by the introduction of Tesco Law.

"Being highly commended is positive recognition for me being bold and innovative, as well as being entrepreneurial within a law firm.

"This entrepreneurial approach has been our greatest asset as we are at the heart of advising commercial businesses and understand how businesses should operate in today's climate – this is what sets us apart from the crowd.

"We are securing more new clients now than we have ever done in the past 20 years – I can only put this down to our levels of service and desire to be different.

"I am also extremely thrilled for the firm and all my team for winning the Excellence in Client Service award.

"For us, this award is more than just recognition from our peers – what we have now is a mark of approved excellence that clients can measure against."

In recent months, the law firm has improved its service by introducing extended opening hours, weekend services at its new Legal Shop in Evington Road, Leicester and mobile legal services which mean staff will meet clients at their homes or offices at no extra cost.

A spokesman for the Law Society said: "Douglas Wemyss Solicitors are dedicated in providing excellent client focused services and pride themselves on putting their clients first.

"The firm takes an innovative approach, keeping clients as a number one priority every step of the way. This commitment to clients was also recognised in winning Leicestershire Law Firm of the Year 2011."

The annual awards cover the entire legal sector.

Law Society president John Wotton said: "The winners of these awards should be very proud.

"The legal profession faces fresh challenges and greater competition resulting from the Legal Services Act. Excellence is the foundation of success in this new competitive environment."