Blake Morgan teams on the South Coast celebrate success in Legal Directories

Blake Morgan’s teams and leading individuals in Southampton and Portsmouth have been recognised for the strength and depth of their expertise in 2018 edition of the prestigious Legal 500 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, Blake Morgan has been ranked as a Tier 1 firm in 14 practice areas on the south coast, including Corporate and Commercial, Banking and Finance, Family Law, Personal Tax, Education and Commercial Property. The Legal 500 also lists seven South Coast partners as ‘leading individuals’ – an accolade that recognises those lawyers who have demonstrated sector leadership and expertise – and an increase on the five listed in 2017’s results. A further 47 individuals are listed as ‘recommended’.

Among those listed as ‘leading individuals’ are banking and finance partner Kath Shimmin whose practice “has the critical mass across the South East to provide clients, which include institutional lenders and major corporates, on a wide range of financing transactions.” Another leading individual is partner and Head of Pensions and Benefits, John Hamilton, whose team is recognised as “excellent in all areas.”

Blake Morgan also performed strongly in the Chambers and Partners 2019 UK guide. In the south, six teams were ranked in the top band for quality and service, including the firm’s Employment, Family, Crime, and Intellectual Property teams. The firm’s Pension team was also listed and described as “highly regarded” with “great knowledge and flexibility”.

Nine lawyers from the south coast were also listed as top-tier professionals, including Jill Bainbridge – partner and head of the firm’s Intellectual Property group; partner and head of pensions and benefits, John Hamilton; and Susie Dryden – partner and head of commercial litigation. Susie was described by the directory as having “gravitas, authenticity, calmness, convincing technical knowledge and a strong willingness to explain legal points to non-legal persons.”

Sadak Miah, Senior Regional Partner at Blake Morgan, said: “Our teams in the south coast have worked tirelessly to deliver a high-quality service that’s backed by knowledge and understanding, and this year’s listings in Legal 500 and Chambers UK shows that our clients and peers agree.”

“We’re proud of our people and delighted to see our professional service and expertise continue to deliver clear results.”

Across the UK, Blake Morgan saw 32 practice areas highlighted as best-in-class ‘Tier 1’ in this year’s Legal 500 and 20 practice areas listed as Band 1 in the 2019 Chambers UK rankings.

A total of 30 lawyers from Blake Morgan’s offices in England and Wales were named elite ‘leading individuals’ and 166 lawyers were listed as ‘recommended’ for their levels of service, expertise and excellence in the Legal 500.  In the 2019 Chambers UK guide, 22 individuals were awarded Band 1 individuals and 12 ‘associates to watch’.