Blake Morgan in Wales is celebrating its success in the 2024 Chambers & Partners Guide, after securing impressive rankings for its practice areas and individual lawyers. The guide profiles the best-performing lawyers and legal firms across the UK, based on an in-depth independent research process.
This year, the guide honours 24 lawyers from the Cardiff-based firm, with corporate restructuring and insolvency partner Paul Caldicott, intellectual property expert Lee Fisher, property litigator Siân Jones, and employment lawyers Matthew Smith and Joanne Davies achieving the apex of recognition with Band 1 rankings. Clients commended Siân Jones as “absolutely fantastic to work with”, while the “exceptional guidance, service and support” provided by Matthew Smith also drew client praise.
Nine teams achieved the coveted Band 1 status, including Administrative and Public Law, Construction, Corporate M&A, Employment, Litigation, Real Estate, Real Estate Litigation, Restructuring and Insolvency, and Social Housing. Intellectual Property distinguished itself with a Band 2 ranking, and the Banking and Finance team rounds out the honours with a Band 3 acknowledgement.
In the spotlight among the firm’s lawyers is corporate and M&A specialist Richard Jones, who climbed from a Band 3 to a Band 2 ranking this year. Richard’s clients described him as “highly regarded”, “pragmatic and easy to work with”. A further seven lawyers in Wales were awarded Band 2 status, with another three making their mark in the Band 3 category.
As well as recognising three of the firm’s Cardiff-based lawyers as ‘Senior Statespeople’, including the “invaluable” professional discipline expert Graham Miles, the guide focused attention on the new generation of talent coming through.
The ‘Associates to Watch’ category welcomed construction expert Kate Howell, commended for her “all-round excellence in the law”, and four of the firm’s commercial litigation team: Trish D’Souza, Sophia Farmer, Joanna Corbett-Simmons and Daniel Taylor. Clients praised Joanna as being “on top of her brief”, saying that “her communication is excellent and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her”, while Daniel’s clients also said that they “cannot recommend Dan enough. He is professional and really understands our business.”. In addition, Daniela Smith was identified as an ‘Up and Coming’ talent in recognition of her “wide-ranging real estate expertise” as part of the “established” real estate team in Wales.
Client testimonials further underscored the firm’s commitment to excellence. The firm’s “solution-focused, experienced and practical” healthcare practice, whose team in Wales includes ‘Senior statesperson’ Richard M Jones and the “exceptionally well versed” Eve Piffaretti, came in for praise as part of the UK-wide rankings. The Welsh construction team also received high praise for its “sophisticated commercial understanding”, while the employment team was commended as “highly knowledgeable and expert “. Meanwhile, the Cardiff-based banking and finance team, led by Paul Duggan, was lauded for its “superb knowledge of the banking law landscape.”
Eve Piffaretti, Head of Office (Wales) at Blake Morgan, said:
“It’s been another standout year for our Wales-based teams and lawyers. The number of individual lawyers moving up in their rankings or being recognised for the first time truly underscores the depth of talent and commitment to client service within the firm.”
