Legal 500: East Midlands’ top law firms revealed
The annual Legal 500 rankings have revealed the region’s best corporate and commercial law firms.
It’s pretty much “as you were” in this year’s legal industry bible rankings, with the only significant change in this year’s Legal 500 seeing BHW Solicitors in Leicester join the top table of the East Midlands law scene and take their place alongside the Tier 1 giants, while Gateley drop into Tier 2. Elsewhere, Shakespeare Martineau’s Leicester practive steps up from Tier 3 to Tier 2.
Tier 1
Browne Jacobson (Nottingham)
Eversheds Sutherland (Nottingham)
Freeths (Derby, Nottingham)
Geldards (Derby, Nottingham)
Shoosmiths (Nottingham)
BHW Solicitors (Leicester)
Hewitsons (Northampton)
Howes Percival (Leicester, Northampton)
Spearing Waite (Leicester)
Tier 2
Flint Bishop (Derby)
Gateley (Nottingham)
Nelsons Solicitors Limited (Derby, Nottingham)
Shakespeare Martineau (Nottingham)
Freeths (Leicester)
Gateley (Leicester)
Shakespeare Martineau (Leicester)
Tier 3
Actons (Nottingham)
Austin Moore & Partners (Nottingham)
Fraser Brown (Nottingham)
Smith Partnership (Derby, Nottingham)
Nelsons Solicitors Limited (Leicester)
Roythornes Solicitors (Spalding)
Sills & Betteridge (Lincoln)
Wilkin Chapman (Lincoln, Grimsby)
Wilson Browne Solicitors (Northampton)
The Legal 500 says that regional heavyweight Browne Jacobson has “considerable strength” in in both corporate and commercial matters, while Eversheds Sutherland has a “strong track record” in mid-market mergers, acquisitions and private equity-backed transactions.
The healthcare and food and drink sectors are “core areas of strength” for Freeths’ corporate team, which expanded its offering with the addition of director Adam Edwards, formerly at Browne Jacobson, and the “fantastic” and “always available” team at Geldards advises domestic and international clients on private equity and M&A transactions, as well as commercial agreements including consumer credit and supply arrangements, service level agreements, agency and distribution agreements, leasing agreements and joint venture and collaboration agreements.
Shoosmiths attracts praise for its “cutting-edge advice”, “fantastic client-focused service”, “good commercial sense with a view to getting deals done quickly”, and a “pragmatic approach to complex multi-party negotiations”.
Noted for its “commercial approach”, “exceptional service” and “fast response times”, Flint Bishop has strong expertise in corporate and commercial work, with the team’s corporate experience spanning sales, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, shareholders agreements and corporate governance matters.
Meanwhile, the Legal 500’s leading individuals was once again completely dominated by male names.
LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Crispin Bridges Webb | Shoosmiths
David Tilly | Geldards
Gareth John | Gateley
Gavin Cummings | Browne Jacobson
Gerald Couldrake | Howes Percival
John Heaphy | Freeths
Karl Jansen | Freeths
Mark Rutherford | Gateley
Martin Smith | Spearing Waite
Nigel Blackwell | Browne Jacobson
Roy Botterill | Shakespeare Martineau
Crispin Bridges Webb | Shoosmiths
David Tilly | Geldards
