Peter Warwick, President and CEO, North American Legal

The sixth annual Awards of Excellence recognition ceremony was held last night, in conjunction with the North American Legal (NAL) Senior Leadership Meeting. This year, we had the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During the ceremony, representatives from each of the winning submissions accepted an award on behalf of their team.

Today, I am pleased to recognize these teams by sharing each of their stories with you. These teams faced substantial competition to become Awards of Excellence honorees. We received more than 50 exceptional nominations from colleagues across NAL and from this group only seven winners were selected.

Colleagues were recognized for their contributions in our four new award categories, in recognition of the Thomson Reuters values:

• Customers are the heart of everything we do.
• Business is global.
• People make the difference.
• Performance matters.

Through their innovative projects, these teams made a significant impact on the business and helped drive the values of our organization, and the goals of NAL.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who participated in this year's program. I would especially like to congratulate our President's Award and Awards of Excellence honorees. Their accomplishments made tremendous contributions to NAL’s success this past year, and will continue to strengthen the business as we join with International Legal & Regulatory to form a new organization in 2009. Their examples of collaboration and innovation will serve as a model for all of us in the years to come.

Peter