Pioneering in-house practitioner Dr Sandra (Sandie) Okoro is one of a handful of solicitors to appear on the New Year honours list. The former vice president and general counsel at the World Bank receives the OBE for services to diversity in international finance.
Okoro, admitted in 1991, has also served as global general counsel at HSBC’s retail banking and wealth management division.
Of the 1,200 awards named at the weekend, the most senior recipient in the legal profession is a barrister: Max Hill KC, former director of public prosecutions, becomes a knight of the bath.
Another barrister, Dr Tunde Okewale MBE, receives the OBE for services to criminal justice and social mobility.
Elsewhere in the justice sector, two officials at HM Courts & Tribunals Service receive the CBE for public and voluntary service. They are Louise Elizabeth Alexander, human resources director and trustee, Rowland Hill Fund, and Paul Harris, deputy chief executive officer and operations director.
Meanwhile Timothy Jenkins, former district judge, Brentford County Court, receives the OBE or services to the administration of justice. Louise Van Der Straeten, senior lawyer, Serious Fraud Office, also receives the OBE for services to the administration of justice
Among the MBEs, James St John Fenny, head of office, Public Defender Service and transplant surgery ambassador, is honoured for services to criminal justice and to organ donor awareness.
