Law firm Irwin Mitchell's Birmingham office's impressive growth
has been reflected with more recommendations and rankings than ever
in the Legal 500; an independent guide to law published this
week.
Irwin Mitchell is rated as a top tier practice for Clinical
Negligence, Personal Injury, Family and Travel law in the latest
tables published by the Legal 500.
The growing firm has also been ranked for the first time in four
other areas of law, Corporate and Commercial, Dispute Resolution,
Insolvency and Corporate Recovery and Planning. The firm has also
won the Rehabilitation Initiative of the Year award for the third
year in a row.
Stuart Henderson, Regional Managing Partner for Irwin Mitchell
in Birmingham, said: "We are delighted that this prestigious guide
has recognised the continued and growing expertise of our
Birmingham office.
"It is testament to the commitment we have in putting our
clients' interests first that we have retained the top spot in the
Legal 500 in a number of areas.
"Over the past couple of years we have increased the range of
our legal services to the business community and it is very
pleasing that the hard work of the team is being recognised with
several new recommendations in the guide."
Stuart Henderson leads the Personal Injury team at Irwin
Mitchell which continues to be "pre-eminent in the West Midlands".
The team has particular expertise in neurotrauma, catastrophic
injury and asbestos disease cases. Alida Coates and Philip Edwards
were named and described as "passionate and skilled". The
first-class team secured a six-figure settlement for the estate of
a man eight years after his death from mesothelioma.
Irwin Mitchell's clinical negligence department was again the
leading team in the region with the "excellent" Lisa Jordan heading
the team; Sara Burns and Mandy Luckman were also recommended for
their thorough and hard work for their clients.
The highly specialised team has been involved in some
groundbreaking work, such as acting for a couple whose last
remaining viable embryo was wrongly implanted into another
patient.
The family team, headed up by Nicola Walker, retained its number
one ranking once again. The team was praised for its international
work in particular.
The large travel team at Irwin Mitchell, led by Clive Garner,
also retained the top spot. The firm has an enviable reputation
with growth areas including serious injury and fatal claims arising
from road traffic, coach and aviation crashes and group action
illness claims. Irwin Mitchell also advised on the Bulgarian coach
crash case, in which liability was established against TUI UK at
trial on behalf of 24 claimants.
The business side of the firm has continued to grow led by
Fergal Dowling who is appreciated as someone who "doesn't believe
in wasting clients' money".
Dowling also heads the busy employment team at Irwin Mitchell
providing a premium service advising mainly owner-managed
businesses and SMEs, in the Midlands and nationally.
In the Health and Safety sector David Egan is recommended for
providing professional, in-depth advice and support. The practice
includes non-contentious health and safety and environmental
matters.
Paul Wakefield is recommended for developing the corporate offer
which was ranked for the first time. Also ranked for the first time
is the Commercial Litigation team, headed up by Mark Elder, which
the guide says is "well regarded, and advises on a broad range of
issues from supply chain disputes to IT disputes".
The Insolvency practice led by Andrew Taylor receives many
plaudits from clients, and 'resolves difficult and complex issues
promptly and efficiently'.
Recent addition to Irwin Mitchell, Oliver Martin is also
recommended for his work in Planning Law.