Member Article

Yorkshire law firm improves Legal 500 rankings thanks to growth

Sheffield-headquartered Irwin Mitchell has reaffirmed its reputation as one of the leading commercial legal practices following another impressive performance in the latest Legal 500 tables.

Across the UK, Irwin Mitchell which recently reported annual income in excess of £200m for the first time, saw 11 teams within its Business Legal Services (BLS) division improve their ranking position within the annual independent legal directory, with the firm now listed as a leading ‘tier one’ provider in seven areas.

Following the success of the previous year, Irwin Mitchell is now ranked as a top three firm in 35 of Legal 500’s business related categories.

The firm’s real estate team in Sheffield boosted its position to tier one and is described in the guide as being ‘as good as it gets’. In Leeds, the firm retained its top three ranking after a strong year which saw it act in a number of high profile real estate transactions.

For the first time, Irwin Mitchell has also been included in the construction category within Yorkshire and its commercial litigation department retained its number one spot in Sheffield.

Niall Baker, partner and BLS chief executive, said: “These latest Legal 500 results reflect the hard work from all our teams during what has and continues to be a tough economic environment. Since the start of 2012, Irwin Mitchell has announced 16 new partners within BLS and it also very pleasing to see that the investment that we have made in bringing in new, high calibre people is paying off.”

Within the Corporate and Commercial arena, Irwin Mitchell’s Sheffield office is described as ‘first choice for complex work’ and saw its 2013 ranking improve, while the employment team maintained all of its top three or above rankings across the UK. In Yorkshire, the company was recognised for its experience in public sector outsourcing, auto-enrolment and scheme funding issues. This has resulted in the Pensions team in the region improving its position from level four to three.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .