The law firm Stephensons, which has eight offices across the North West, has been recognised as one of the leading legal practices in the UK, achieving the coveted ‘Tier 1’ ranking from The Legal 500.
The Legal 500 is the definitive guide to the legal sector, recommending law firms for their expertise, ranking them in tiers and highlighting outstanding legal professionals.
In total, the guide awarded rankings to eight areas of work and recommended 23 of the firm’s solicitors – all based in the North West. Commendations were given to Stephensons’ local government, professional discipline and social housing teams, with further accolades for clinical negligence, family law and court of protection work.
The Legal 500 reserved particular praise for Stephensons’ fraud and criminal law work, both of which received the coveted ‘Tier 1’ ranking.
The Serious Fraud and Business Crime practice was described as ‘bright, adaptive and experienced’ and ‘the real deal’ while praising the high profile nature of the team’s work in the fields of land-banking, Ponzi and VAT fraud. Individuals, including specialist fraud solicitor, Priscilla Addo-Quaye and consultant John Greenwood given ‘recommended lawyer’ recognition by the guide.
Elsewhere, Philip Richardson was recommended for his skills in advising local authorities on employment matters, while the ‘excellent’ Kate Bullen, Louise Hebborn, Chris Graves and department head, David Baybut are all recommended for social housing law.
The guide also recognised Carl Johnson, Alison Marriott and Martin Haisley for their expertise in professional discipline law, with Melanie Vary noted for developing ‘a niche practice representing clients in relation to decisions over the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.’
Head of Clinical Negligence, Judith Thomas Whittingham is described as ‘highly respectable’, ‘bright, able and down to earth’, while Louise Griffiths, Claire Stockley, Carla Twist and Tom Mooney are all recommended as part of a ‘professional and ethical team’, ‘known for its specialist expertise in birth and brain injury.’
In family law, department head, Mike Devlin, is praised for his ‘good reputation for his knowledge and skill in the area of care and children work in particular’ and the case management skills of Donna Roberts are described as ‘second to none.’ Gwyneth John, ‘reliable and efficient’ Andrew Mountain and Anna White are also recommended.
Andrew Welch, Managing Partner at Stephensons said: “The Legal 500 is a true indicator of achievement and success in legal services and the 2017 guide has shown that our offering across the firm continues to be among the very best in the United Kingdom.
“In particular, seeing the teams retain Tier 1 rankings is a testament to their hard work and dedication of which we are rightly proud. However, to have 23 solicitors recommended this year – quite possibly the most yet – and to have eight practice areas ranked is a huge achievement which demonstrates our expertise across the entire firm.”
