Legal 500: Who’s on top in property rankings?
THE continuing challenges in the commercial property sector have not affected the strength and quality of legal advice serving the North West market., The Legal 500 says.
According to this year’s Legal 500, the three top firms in the discipline in Manchester are Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper and Eversheds.
DLA Piper is also ranked at the top of the tree in Liverpool, where it is joined in the top tier by Hill Dickinson – which is celebrating its 200th year in 2010.
Brabners Chaffe Street (Preston) and Hill Dickinson (Chester) are seen by the Legal 500 as the leading firms for real estate advice outside the two major commercial centres of the North West.
Other leading players in Manchester are: Beachcroft, Brabners Chaffe Street, Cobbetts, DWF, Hammonds, Pannone and Pinsent Masons .
In Liverpool the other highly-regarded firms are: Brabners Chaffe Street, DWF, Mace & Jones, Murphy Hodgkinson and Weightmans, while outside the major cities, Aaron & Partners (Chester), Forbes (Blackburn), Gorvins of Stockport and Nantwich firm Hibberts are also highly recommended by the respected legal publication.
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The leading individuals in the Manchester are: Mark Hayward at Addleshaw Goddard; Anita Weightman at DLA Piper, who is described by Legal 500 as being “well respected in the market place.”
Eversheds’ Paul Hothi, who is advising on the Thames Gateway project is said to be “commercial, very direct, extremely thorough”.
In Liverpool. Phillip Rooney and Alison Mills at DLA Piper are rated as “excellent”, providing “service levels are comparable (and in some cases better) than London-based practices”.
Pamela Jones, Peter Bullivant and Martyn McDonald are among several Hill Dickinson Liverpool partners rated highly by the publication. Outside Manchester and Liverpool, Ross Shine at Brabners Chaffe Street in Preston is described as “commercially focused” and “extremely knowledgeable”.
Construction
Pinsent Masons leads the field in this key area. Legal 500 describes the firm as remains ” unmatched in strength in depth in the North West.”
Addleshaw Goddard and DLA Piper are next in line, followed by DWF, Eversheds, Hammonds, Hill Dickinson, Brabners Chaffe Street, Davies Arnold Cooper, Mace & Jones, Pannone, Cobbetts, George Davies, Trowers & Hamlins and Weightmans.
Chris Hallam, Katherine Sneddon, Michael Hopkins and Andrew Denton at Pinsent Masons were singled out for praise.
Insolvency and corporate recovery
The top two firms in this area are Addleshaw Goddard and DLA Piper, followed by Eversheds, Halliwells – whose team is now part of HBJ Gateley Wareing’s new Manchester office and Pinsent Masons .
Other strong players include: Cobbetts; DWF; Hammonds; Hill Dickinson; Bermans; George Davies Solicitors, Pannone and Turner Parkinson.
Leading individuals include John Joyce at Addleshaw Goddard, Martin Keates at DLA Piper in Manchester and John Vicery in the firm’s Liverpool office.
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David Gray at Eversheds led on some substantial restructurings last year, including advising Barclays and RBS on a £325m refinance at Speedy Hire.
Jamie White at Pinsent Masons demonstrates “sound legal, moral and ethical values”, while Cobbetts’ Robert Turnbull is “strong and decisive”. At DWF Andrew Gregory is described as “top notch” by Legal 500.
Licensing
Cobbetts and Kuit Steinart Levy head the field in this area, followed by Beachcroft, DWF. Eversheds and Halliwells
Hamish Lawson at Cobbetts and Anthony Lyons at Kuit Steinart Levy are cited as the leading individuals in the market place.
