Blake Morgan’s South Coast teams celebrate success in latest Legal 500 directory
Blake Morgan’s teams on the south coast are celebrating after securing impressive rankings in the 2023 edition of the Legal 500, reflecting the firm’s first-rate service and specialist expertise among its teams and individual lawyers.
Each year, the Legal 500 Guide reviews and benchmarks the strength of law firms and their lawyers based on extensive research and feedback from clients. This year, Blake Morgan secured rankings for 28 teams across the south east, excluding London, including six specific teams ranked in the South East: Hampshire region – all of which achieved a Tier 1 ranking, and a further ten Tier 1 rankings across the wider South East Region.
Among the south coast practice areas that achieved Tier 1 rankings were: Banking and Finance, Corporate and Commercial, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Property, Construction, Debt Recovery, Employment, Family, and Personal Tax, Trusts & Probate. Blake Morgan’s Corporate and Commercial team received glowing praise from clients who value its ability to ‘work in partnership’ with clients as an extension of their team, while the Commercial Property team was described by clients as ‘extremely professional, knowledgeable and responsive.’
In addition, six south coast-based lawyers achieved ‘Leading Individual’ status. Among those listed were Simon Burge and Paula Shea, both from the highly-rated Private Client team. Simon Burge was described as ‘one of the key players in family finance in Hampshire’ and praised for being ‘tactically astute’ while Paula Shea was commended as ‘an exceptionally good lawyer’ – ‘technically brilliant’ who provides ‘amazing client service’. Also achieving ‘Leading Individual’ rankings were Jill Bainbridge, James Hawkeswood, Oliver Sowton, and Sadak Miah.
The corporate and commercial team’s Gemma Spiceley was ranked as a as ‘Next Generation Partner’ alongside pensions expert Rupert Graham-Evans and family lawyer Jennifer Williamson. The next generation of top lawyers were also recognised, with seven south coast lawyers selected as ‘Rising Stars’: Ben Evans, Hollie Jones, Holly Cudbill, Jonathan Sleep, Kirsteen Hook, Simon Pestell, and Vicky Schollar. One client singled out the ‘friendly, pragmatic and approachable’ employment team’s Vicky Schollar for her ‘very calm and efficient manner’. Another commended chartered trade mark attorney, Ben Evans from the firm’s ‘efficient and reliable’ Intellectual Property practice, saying he ‘could not have been more helpful and reassuring’.
Overall, Blake Morgan has secured an impressive 58 rankings for 2023 across the UK, with 28 practice areas ranked ‘Tier 1’, reflecting the firm’s first-rate service and specialist expertise among both its teams and individual lawyers. 82 of the firm’s lawyers were recognised individually, with nine awarded the prestigious ‘Hall of Fame’ status.
Kath Shimmin, Chair at Blake Morgan, said:
It’s been another successful year for our south coast teams, reflected in the strength of their performance in this year’s Legal 500 rankings. The outstanding feedback received from clients showcases the hard work and dedication which I have seen the team apply to every facet of their work over the past year. It is particularly pleasing to see the exceptional individual achievements, including those setting the standard for the bright future of the firm, named as ‘Next Generation Partners’ and ‘Rising Stars’.
Share:
