Blake Morgan teams celebrate success in Legal Directories (2018)

Blake Morgan’s teams and leading individuals have been recognised for the strength and depth of their expertise in the 2018 edition of the prestigious Legal 500 directory and the Chambers & Partners 2019 UK guide.

Both directories review and recognise the strengths of law firms and their lawyers across the UK and recommends them based on feedback from clients and peers.

In this year’s Legal 500, the firm saw 32 practice areas ranked as ‘Tier 1 ‘– denoting those areas considered best-in-class. This included the firm’s Corporate and Commercial, Banking and Finance, Pensions, Family Law, Local Government, Employment and Construction practices. Blake Morgan also secured Tier 1 ranks for Intellectual Property, IT and Telecoms and Property Litigation.

Key lawyers were also highlighted, with 30 listed as ‘leading individuals’ – those seen both as experts in their field as well as capable of delivering a high-quality service to clients. Among those listed this year were corporate lawyer James Hawkeswood who has completed a “significant number of transactions” on the South Coast, Eve Piffaretti who leads the firm’s Commercial team in Wales and “has extensive knowledge and understanding of the social care charity sector and mental health issues”; and Richard Wade, head of construction and engineering in London and the South East, who is recognised for his experience of contentious and non-contentious construction and engineering projects.

This year’s directory also rated166 lawyers as ‘recommended’ for their levels of service, expertise and excellence.

Blake Morgan also performed strongly in the Chambers and Partners 2019 UK guide. This year, the guide ranked over 80% of Blake Morgan’s practice areas as either Band 1 or 2.  Practice areas that achieved Band 1 in England include: Employment, Family / Matrimonial, Litigation, Intellectual Property, Pensions and Professional Negligence: Mainly Claimant – which was described as “stand-out”.  In Wales the top Band was awarded to Administrative and Public Law, Corporate / Mergers and Acquisitions, Employment, IT, Litigation, Real Estate, Restructuring / Insolvency and Social Housing.

The guide also identifies the highest legal performers. This year, Partner and Divisional Director of Litigation and Dispute resolution, Alison McClure, was named as an ‘eminent practitioner’, along with Partner and Head of Professional and Business Regulatory Bradley Albuery and Philip Jardine, Partner and Divisional Director of Built Environment in Wales.  Legal Director and insolvency expert Lucy Edwards and Senior Associate Patricia Wakeford from BM Injury Group were also both hailed as ‘star associates’ within the firm.  Overall, 22 lawyers were listed as Band 1 individuals and a further 12 were earmarked as ‘associates to watch’.

Mike Wilson, Managing Partner at Blake Morgan, said: “We are extremely proud of our teams this year in both Chambers and Legal 500. Expertise is nothing without commitment to high quality service, insight and delivery – and this year’s results show how our people continue to strive for excellence. What’s particularly special is that the rankings come directly from clients and peers – perhaps the best test of success – and demonstrates that our focus and dedication are real assets to the firm.

“We’re also pleased to be recognised in so many areas, which goes to show not only how we’re valued across a number of disciplines, but that we’re able to offer a broad, high-quality service. I’d like to say a huge thank-you to our partners and people for the excellent work they continue to deliver.”