Irwin Mitchell Leeds

18/11/2009

The Leeds office of national law firm Irwin Mitchell has picked up top rankings in a leading independent UK legal survey.

The firm's clinical negligence and personal injury teams both retained number one positions in this year's Chambers UK: A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession. It follows on from similar top rankings in this summer's Legal 500.

The Employment, Intellectual Property and Commercial Property teams each climbed the rankings while Dispute Resolution and Restructuring/Insolvency were also highly commended.

Chambers is a leading independent national review of all law firms based on work by 100 researchers. The work of departments and individuals is evaluated and ranked, with several Leeds partners being singled out for praise.

Leeds Managing Partner David Knaggs said: "We are delighted to have the hard work put in by everyone at our Wellington Place office reflected in this independent survey.

"The importance all our staff place on upholding the firm's values of putting the client first and helping those who need long-term care and support has been reflected in the comments in Chambers. It shows we are going about things the right way and we look forward to building on these results in 2010."

Irwin Mitchell's clinical negligence team impressed with its "consistent standard of excellence" while Partner Rachelle Mahapatra moved up to a top ranking and was described as "amongst the finest claimant clinical negligence practitioners in the county".

Work by the personal injury team was said to "stand out" from other firms in the region and Leeds Partner Jane Horton was known to be "on top of all the issues".

The dispute resolution department earns a number two regional ranking. National head Nick Bates is singled out for his expertise in breach of warranty claims and shareholder and partnership disputes.

Corporate finance and M&A expert Kevin Cunningham is praised for being "an extremely level-headed, effective lawyer with great communication skills".

Dedicated restructuring and insolvency lawyers Andrew Walker and Chris Jones are both highly commended. Chris Jones is said to be a "solid, sensible operator" while Andrew Walker climbs the rankings following significant market praise for his broad-ranging insolvency expertise.

Chambers' researchers moved the employment department up to third in the region table after 'standout work' advising Seven Seas on the disposal of its pet-care division. Specialist Matthew Brain was recognised as a "strong practitioner".

The commercial property team, also moves up one place in the rankings to fourth, with team head John Flathers' expertise in development projects, investment work, secured lending and lease negotiation highlighted.

The intellectual property department celebrates similar success to employment and commercial property as they also climb up one place in the table to a ranking of three. The "respected" national head Joanne Bone is commended for her work in non-contentious IP and IT issues.