Irwin Mitchell Top in 12 Personal Legal Services Categories in Independent Legal 500 Report

Irwin Mitchell has once again been recognised as having a market leading Personal Legal Services division as the firm secured 12 number one rankings with 54 recommended lawyers in an independent guide to the sector.

The independent Legal 500 2012 UK report ranks the firm as number one for Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Family and Court of Protection, with Contentious Probate and Public Law teams also ranked highly.

Thirteen lawyers at the firm are also named on the exclusive elite ‘Leading Lawyers’ list which highlights the UK’s most outstanding talent.

Group Chief Executive at Irwin Mitchell John Pickering, named as one of the ‘Leading Lawyers’, said: “These latest Legal 500 results are extremely impressive. They cement our position as one of the leading law firms in the UK and provide an important platform as we continue to develop the business toward our vision of becoming the legal brand of choice.”

Andrew Tucker, Chief Executive of Personal Legal Services at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The Personal Legal Services division continues to go from strength to strength. Our market leading personal injury teams are at the top of the rankings across the country while our public law and private client teams including Family law, Contentious Probate and Court of Protection are also performing strongly.

“It is testament to the hard work and pioneering outlook across the firm throughout the year and we are often fighting for our clients at the forefront of campaigns to improve access to justice. We have some of the best lawyers around in all fields of law and we are delighted that our expertise has been recognised once again.”

The clinical negligence team at Irwin Mitchell maintained its number one ranking in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, London and Newcastle while it was ranked in the top two in the firm’s newest office in Bristol and ranked for the first time in Glasgow.

In Yorkshire the Sheffield and Leeds teams were described as ‘outstanding’ with David Body. Rachelle Mahapatra and Mark Tempest recommended. While in Birmingham Lisa Jordan and Mandy Luckman are noted for their expertise and sensitivity.

The London Clinical Negligence team was ranked number one because of its strength in depth. Alison Eddy, Ian Christian, Amanda Stevens, Auriana Griffiths are all recommended alongside up-and-coming associates Jane Weakley, Rebecca Cherry and Louise Forsyth.

In Manchester Lindsay Wise and Jennifer Cawthorne are recommended  while in Newcastle Angela Kirtley is recommended for her work advising on a wide range of complex cases up to £12m in value. Julie Lewis and Jonathan Peacock are recommended in Bristol
The Personal injury team, referred to as ‘a dominant force’, was ranked number one once again in Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham and London, with top two rankings in Bristol and Glasgow.

Jane Wright is a key contact in Leeds while Adrian Budgen heads the ‘tenacious’ and ‘hardworking’ Sheffield team. Helen Ashton, Louise Jenkins and Neil Whiteley are also recommended. The large Birmingham team is described as ‘very committed’ and is led by Stuart Henderson with Alida Coates and Philip Edwards mentioned.

In London the rehabilitation expertise of Amanda Stevens, Colin Ettinger and Keith Barrett is highlighted. Tracey Storey’s team is also recommended for child abuse and care claims while Guy Darlaston and Michael Zurbrugg are noted for their expertise.

The ‘extremely impressive’ Newcastle team is led by Office Managing Partner John Davis, with Fran Mayes, Jane Pyrah and Roger Maddocks all highlighted as key contacts. In Manchester Grahame Codd, Jonathan Betts Matthew Brown and Geraldine Coombs are recommended.

In Glasgow the firm remained in the top two for the second year running as did the Bristol team with Office Managing Partner Jonathan Peacock and associate Satpal Singh recommended.

The product liability team also retained its number one ranking and is recommended as a natural choice for claimants harmed by defective products with cases including the De Puy metal-on-metal hips group action.

Irwin Mitchell is the number one ranked Court of Protection team, described as a ‘market leader’ in the field, with national reach in cutting-edge deputyship, welfare, wills, and receivership work. Julia Lomas heads the team which has acted in several landmark cases throughout the year.

The firm’s ‘excellent’ travel litigation team, led by Clive Garner retained its tier two ranking with a strong reputation for representing claimants who have suffered personal injuries while abroad.

The Family team continued to grow its national reputation remaining as a number one ranked firm in Sheffield and Birmingham, with a top three placing for Manchester, Bristol and Leeds. The London team moved up the rankings to tier four.

The team is described as ‘excellent’ with ‘extremely strong and talented’ lawyers led by Martin Loxley in Sheffield. Zoe Round (Sheffield) and Peter Morris in Leeds are also praised, as are Nicola Walker in Birmingham, Alison Hawes in Bristol and Ros Bever in Manchester while Elizabeth Hicks and John Nicholson are recommended in the London team.

In the Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate rankings Irwin Mitchell secured a top two spot once again with an ‘experienced’ team known for its contentious probate and trust matters with Partner Louise Sykes recommended.

The Public Law team at Irwin Mitchell has been extremely active in challenging recent public spending cuts and is ranked in the top three for administration and public law, and for assisting individuals in education. The firm is also ranked for its work on civil liberties, and healthcare. Head of the team Andrew Lockley is described as ‘a top-rate practitioner’ with Yogi Amin recommended as ‘an excellent case tactician’ while Alex Rook is ‘clearly a rising star’.

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