East Anglian law firm Ashton KCJ has scored a double win at the 2014 LawNet Awards.

The Ipswich-based firm, which also has offices in Cambridge, Norwich, Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe and Thetford, won the Best Digital Presence category, for its use of social media, digital branding and content marketing, and clinical negligence specialist Ben Ward, who joined the firm as a trainee in 2008, claimed the Young Lawyer of the Year title.

Ed O’Rourke, chief executive, said: “I am hugely proud of both these wins and of all who have contributed to them.

“Our growing firm-wide culture of online activity and contribution, driven by a Business Development team with a passion for digital marketing, reflects the fact that social media is an effective way of raising our profile, increasing our brand awareness, interacting with our clients and making contacts with potential clients and the media.

“This is one way of differentiating ourselves from other law firms. Another is to develop strength and depth in niche areas of law. The way in which Ben Ward, who trained with us, has gone on to carve out niche expertise and recognition in the medical negligence field so early in his career is impressive and his Award is richly deserved.”

The awards, judged by external specialists rather than by lawyers, were announced during the annual conference of LawNet, a national network of 60 independent law firms committed to rigorous quality standards, which was held at The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield.