Blake Morgan teams in Wales celebrate success in the latest Legal 500 directory

Blake Morgan’s teams and leading individuals in Cardiff have been recognised for the strength and depth of their expertise in the 2021 edition of the prestigious Legal 500 UK guide.

Each year, The Legal 500 reviews and benchmarks the strength of law firms and their lawyers based on extensive research and feedback from clients. For 2021, Blake Morgan secured 58 rankings, with 27 practice areas being ranked ‘Tier 1′ in recognition of delivering best-in-class service. 71 of the firm’s lawyers also received individual recognition.

In this year’s Legal 500, Blake Morgan secured 16 rankings for its Wales office, with 10 practice areas being ranked ‘Tier 1′ in recognition of delivering best-in-class service.

Practice areas that achieved Tier 1 ranks included Commercial Litigation, Health and Safety, Pensions, Clinical Negligence (Defendant), Public Sector, Property Litigation, Social Housing, Intellectual Property, Employment, and Corporate and Commercial.

In particular, the Cardiff team’s work in Clinical Negligence was singled out.  The team is described as ‘innovative’, ‘highly competent’, and with a ‘wide range of experience’ as ‘one of the few law firms in Wales with a significant focus on defending clinical negligence claims brought against doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals’.  Similarly, the Employment team was praised for its ‘technical ability, overlaid by a strategic approach’, as well as being ‘able provide a wide-ranging contentious and non-contentious service to clients’ with a ‘strength-in-depth which allows a considerable level of partner specialism’.

The Welsh Real Estate and Construction teams were also applauded.  The ‘well lead and well supported’ Property Litigation team received praise for their ‘attention and understanding of clients’ needs, their attention to detail and client focus’, while the Social Housing team were credited as ‘approachable and efficient’ – ‘capable of responding to pressures and challenges’.  The ‘knowledgeable’ Construction team was described as able to provide ‘personable, commercially minded and pragmatic advice’ to private and public sector purchasers and contractors’.

The Corporate and Commercial team was praised, with Penri Desscan, Rob Cherry and James Williams singled out as ‘experienced and pragmatic’, while one client described the Commercial Litigation team as able to provide ‘invaluable advice and assistance’.

Overall, 26 of the firm’s lawyers in Wales received recognition individually this year.  Five were awarded ‘Hall of Fame’ status, including Claire Rawle, Emyr Lewis, Eve Piffaretti, Rob Cherry and Robin Havard.  A further 10 lawyers achieved ‘Leading Individual’ status, four were denoted as ‘Next Generation Partners’, and seven were awarded the title of ‘Rising Star’.

Rob Cherry, listed in the ‘Hall of Fame’, was described as ‘experienced and pragmatic’ and as leading a team with a ‘strong track record handling work in the healthcare sector’. ‘Rising star’ Paul Duggan in the Banking and Finance practice was praised for being ‘highly knowledgeable, personable and able to communicate complex issues in straightforward language’, with the team as a whole credited with being ‘inclusive, approachable, straightforward and engaging’.

The Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate team’s ‘experienced and intelligent’ Lisa Davies was highlighted as a ‘Next Generation Partner’, described by a client as having ‘the experience to provide up-to-date and first-class advice and the intelligence to know how to deliver that to clients in a way that makes complete sense’.

Eve Piffaretti, Partner in Blake Morgan’s Cardiff office, said: “It’s brilliant to see the hard work and success of so many of our practice areas and lawyers in Cardiff being applauded in this year’s The Legal 500.  It really is testament to our dedication to our clients and the knowledge and expertise that exists within the firm, and I’m proud that we continue to deliver first class service and legal solutions at a challenging time for many businesses.”