Blake Morgan’s leading teams and individual lawyers in Wales have been recognised extensively in the 2024 edition of the prestigious Legal 500 rankings, reflecting the firm’s first-rate client service, specialist expertise and long-term commitment to Wales, across a wide range of sectors.
Each year, the highly-regarded Legal 500 directory reviews and benchmarks the strength of law firms and their lawyers based on research and feedback from clients. Among its 17 rankings for Wales this year, 12 of Blake Morgan’s practice areas are placed in the highest ‘Tier 1’ ranking.
Practice areas that achieved Tier 1 ranks included Employment, Finance, Insurance, Public Sector, Real Estate, Technology, Media and Telecoms, Dispute Resolution, and Corporate and Commercial.
The ‘skilled and highly knowledgeable’ Social Housing team is praised for providing a ‘prompt and efficient service’ to housing associations, while the Commercial Litigation team is recognised for its ‘well-informed and responsive’ advice across a range of high-profile litigation cases. The Construction team secured a rise to Tier 1 from Tier 2 in 2023 thanks to its ‘very skilled and knowledgeable lawyers across all seniorities’.
Overall, 28 of the firm’s lawyers are recognised individually this year, some in multiple categories, with several lawyers achieving ‘Hall of Fame’ status in recognition of their capabilities and standing in the industry. Eve Piffaretti, Claire Rawle, and consultant Robin Havard secured this prestigious status. Eve Piffaretti is recognised for her ‘expert and sensible advice’.
Six promising individuals also stood out as ‘Next Generation Partners’, including Banking and Finance team leader, Paul Duggan, and ‘extremely proactive, responsible and knowledgeable’ succession and tax expert, Lisa Davies. Client testimonials describe real estate lawyer, Louise Howells, as ‘exceptionally gifted’ and praise Richard Jones as a ‘a superb, highly commercial corporate lawyer’, while Joanne Thompson is singled out as a ‘first-rate procurement litigator with a wealth of experience and excellent judgement’. Pensions lawyer Gillian McCue is described as ‘bright, very focussed and responsive’.
Alongside these, an exceptional 16 lawyers are rated as ‘Leading Individuals’, with an additional eight lawyers listed as ‘Rising Stars’ in the directory.
James Egan, James Williams, Lee Fisher, Joanne Davies, Matthew Smith, Paula Kathrens, Ron Burgess, Paul Caldicott, Geoff Reed, Graham Miles, Nigel Griffiths, Penri Desscan, Simon McCann, Joanna Rees, Siân Jones and Louise Howells were all named as Leading Individuals.
Meanwhile, James Vaughan, Nicky Sherrard, Sarah Whittle, Tom Walker, Sophia Farmer, Trish D’Souza,
Kate Howell and Joanna Corbett-Simmons were all recognised as Rising Stars.
Eve Piffaretti, Head of Office (Wales) at Blake Morgan, said:
“It’s fantastic to see so many of our lawyers and practice areas in Wales recognised for their dedication, achievements and hard work in this year’s Legal 500. The high rankings achieved across the board reflect the outstanding services delivered to clients by our talented lawyers. I want to thank all our clients for their support, and all at Blake Morgan for their commitment over the last year.
“Building upon the success of previous years, we’re especially proud to retain our Tier 1 status for our Public Sector Wales team, with our continued growth in work. We have also seen our Construction team in Wales rise to a Tier 1 practice area and many of our lawyers recognised for their professional excellence. The results are a testament to everyone’s exceptional efforts.”
