Our top tier rankings in this year’s Legal 500

We are proud to announce that we’ve been highly rated in The Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2023 rankings – the leading guide to law firms and solicitors in the UK - with a total of ten recommended practice areas, five lawyers listed as Leading Individuals, five Next Generation Partners and four Rising Stars.

Legal 500 rankings reflect the result of months of extensive analysis by Legal 500’s research team, which conducts thousands of interviews with private practice lawyers and reads through tens of thousands of submissions in order to select the very best lawyers and law firms in the UK.

Five of our departments have achieved top tier rankings in the guide: Corporate, Dispute Resolution, Medical Negligence & Serious Injury, Agribusiness and Commercial Property.

Our Corporate Team receives praise for being a “fantastic team that applies strong commercial thinking and strategy to legal negotiations”. Michael Walby and Vaughan Jones are singled out as a “great team who provide a professional service backed up by great advice”. Michael Walby also retains his status as being the only Corporate lawyer in Cumbria named as a Leading Individual. You can view the full results and testimonials here.

Our Dispute Resolution team is described as having “a significant presence in Cumbria and the North”, Leading Individual James Johnston is described as “intelligent, careful, responsive to client aims”, while Johnny Coulthard is said to be “a key practitioner with a broad practice” and Georgina Nicholls is recognised as a Rising Star. View the full results and testimonials here and here.

On our Medical Negligence and Serious Injury Team, Spencer Knaggs and Michelle Armstrong are named as Next Generation Partners and the team is described as specialising in “high value clinical negligence matters as well as serious personal injury cases such as brain and spinal injuries”. You can see the full results and testimonials here.

Legal 500 describes our Agribusiness Team as being “fine-tuned” and “notable for its expertise in secured lending on land and agribusiness assets”. Agricultural tenancy specialist Joanne McKenzie and “capable, direct, brilliant” Richard Miller are both named as Leading Individuals while Diane Barnes receives recognition as a Rising Star. The full results and testimonials can be viewed here.

Helen Hayward and Robbie Mather in our Commercial Property Team are named as Next Generation Partners and Rebecca Davidson is singled out as a Rising Star, with the team praised for its excellent personal service” and its “competence, capability and capacity”. Find the full results and testimonials here.

On our Family Team Simon Mortimer is named as a Leading Individual and in Banking, Sarah Willshire is recognised as a Next Generation Partner and Rebecca Joy is named as a Rising Star.

Nick Gutteridge, our Managing Partner said:

“The Legal 500 rankings are highly respected and based on extensive research and – importantly - client feedback, so to have so many of our teams and individuals recognised for their expertise and commitment makes us incredibly proud.”