We have further strengthened our reputation as a leading regional law firm in the latest Legal 500 UK guide, achieving nine "top tier" rankings, and a total of 54 rankings for our practice areas and lawyers.
The Legal 500 rankings are one of the legal sector's most respected benchmarks, based on months of independent research, including feedback from clients, referrers and legal professionals.
In the 2027 guide, we achieved recognition for 24 practice areas, along with 30 individual lawyer rankings across Yorkshire and the East Midlands.
A standout result this year is our new Tier 1 ranking for Agriculture and Estates (Yorkshire), giving us a total of nine top-tier rankings across both regions.
Providing feedback on our Agriculture team, one client said: “The team is very approachable and knowledgeable about complex legal matters in terms of options and leases, often in renewables, where most of our work is. There's always someone at the end of the phone!”
Our tier 1 rankings
Agriculture and Estates (East Midlands)
Agriculture and Estates (Yorkshire)
Commercial Litigation (elsewhere in the East Midlands)
Commercial Litigation (Hull and East Yorkshire)
Commercial Property (elsewhere in the East Midlands)
Commercial Property (Hull and East Yorkshire)
Corporate and Commercial (Hull and East Yorkshire)
Debt Recovery (East Midlands)
Employment (Hull and East Yorkshire)
We also retained rankings across a further 15 practice areas, demonstrating the breadth and depth of expertise across our commercial, private client and public sector teams.
New individual recognitions
Five of our lawyers are newly ranked this year:
Lucy Butterfint - Leading Partner, Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate (East Midlands).
Gemma Clark - Leading Associate, Social Housing (East Midlands)
Lucy Riley - Leading Associate, Commercial Litigation (elsewhere in the East Midlands)
Harry Spice - Leading Associate, Corporate & Commercial (Hull and East Yorkshire)
Katie Jacques - Leading Associate, Commercial Property (elsewhere in the East Midlands).
Since the submission process concluded, Katie has been promoted to partner.
Rachael Dicken has also achieved a new Leading Partner ranking in Social Housing (East Midlands), adding to her existing Leading Partner recognition in Commercial Property (elsewhere in the East Midlands).
On the rise
The rankings also see three of our partners upgraded from Next Generation Partner to Leading Partner:
Tom Hickingbottom - Property Litigation (East Midlands)
James Kinnaird - Commercial litigation (elsewhere in the East Midlands)
James Marsden - Family (elsewhere in Yorkshire)
Hall of Fame
Three of our partners have been elevated to the prestigious Legal 500 Hall of Fame, which recognises lawyers at the very top of their profession who are widely respected by clients and peers.
Our new Hall of Famers are:
Chris Grocock - Debt Recovery (East Midlands)
Ralph Gilbert - Commercial Litigation (Hull and East Yorkshire)
Nasim Sharf – Corporate and commercial (Hull and East Yorkshire)
Neil Franklin also retains his Hall of Fame standing status in Agriculture and Estates (Yorkshire).
‘Talent, expertise and dedication’
Robin Simmonds, our CEO, said: “This year's rankings are a real testament to the talent, expertise and dedication shown by our lawyers and teams every day.
"We are proud to be recognised across such a broad range of practice areas and particularly pleased to see so many colleagues receiving new and improved individual recognitions, as well as our four Hall of Famers, of course.
"These results demonstrate the progress we are making towards our vision of being an outstanding regional law firm with national reach, and reflect the strength of our teams across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire."
To see all our rankings, Legal 500 commentary and testimonials, visit: Legal 500 | Wilkin Chapman Rollits
