A Highland law firm is celebrating double success in the prestigious 2014 Law Awards Scotland.
Claire MacAlpin was named Trainee of the Year and Kelie Cooper took the title of Paralegal of the Year.
The pair both work for Fort William and Oban-based MacPhee & Partners.
Ms MacAlpin returned home to Fort William after attending university and began working for MacPhees as a secretary and completed the conveyancing paralegal exams before progressing to qualification as a solicitor.
Ms MacAlpin said: “I was delighted just to be shortlisted as a finalist for the awards, as the standard of the other nominees was extremely high, so to actually win is amazing.”
Ms Cooper joined MacPhee & Partners in 2006 as a trainee executry assistant with no previous legal experience.
In 2007, she undertook a distance-learning course, graduating in 2008 as a paralegal specialising in wills, trusts and executries.
Ms Cooper, who was one of the first in Scotland to qualify as an accredited registered paralegal in wills and executries, is a member of the Institute of Paralegals with Fellowship status and a member of the Committee of the Scottish Paralegal Association.
She said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious award. It was such an honour to be selected as a finalist from the many entries and then to actually be named as Paralegal of the Year 2014 was truly thrilling.”
Managing partner, Duncan MacPhee, said: “We are all very proud of Kelie and Claire.
“They are both dedicated professionals, who thoroughly deserve their national awards.”