BHW Leads the Way in Latest Legal Industry Rankings

Following the release of both the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners legal industry guides for 2024, BHW continues to lead the way with multiple top tier rankings and no fewer than fifteen ranked lawyers across the firm.

The latest Legal 500 release sees every BHW commercial partner receive at least ‘Recommended Lawyer’ status, with three achieving ‘Leading Individual’, two awarded ‘Next Generation Partner’ and one ‘Rising Star’.

The Corporate/Commercial team is the only one ranked ‘Band 1’ in Chambers & Partners in its classification and is one of only four ranked ‘Tier 1’ in the Legal 500. The team also boasts three of the seven lawyers awarded ‘Leading Individual’ in the Legal 500 for corporate and commercial work in the East Midlands, with Matt Worsnop joining Ed Nurse and Stephen McElhone. Ed, Matt, and Stephen, along with Alex Clifton, are four of only ten ranked lawyers across the entire equivalent sector in Chambers & Partners. James Dent has been recognised in the Legal 500 for the first time as a ‘Recommended Lawyer’, while Alex Clifton has once again been awarded ‘Next Generation Partner’.

The Commercial Property team has retained its ‘Tier 1’ Legal 500 status for Real Estate in the East Midlands, following its rise through the rankings and is one of only four firms in the top tier. This year the team has also achieved the extremely rare success of having all seven of its lawyers ranked, with Alison Harrod and Molly McLoughlin joining Beverley Merrell, Ian Sanders, Kate Burlinson, and Raj Hundal, while Eleanor Rattay is the only lawyer given the ‘Next Generation Partner’ award in the sector. The Commercial Property team and department head, Beverley Merrell, have also been recognised once more in the Chambers guide.

The firm’s Commercial Litigation and Employment teams have preserved their respective ‘Tier 2’ and ‘Tier 4’ Legal 500 ranking. Heads of department, Paul Davis (Commercial Litigation) and Amanda Badley (Employment), have maintained their ‘Recommended Lawyer’ status with employment lawyer, Aimée Johns, keeping her ‘Rising Star’ award.

Matt Worsnop also keeps his second recommendation for IT and Telecoms work, with the team ranking ‘Tier 3’ in the Legal 500.

The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners guides are nationally recognised directories of recommended firms and individual lawyers. To appear in either guide a firm must demonstrate the significance of the work that they are undertaking in their marketplace. Extensive research is undertaken including interviews with lawyers, their clients, and other business professionals to gain comprehensive feedback. Firms and their lawyers are classified by location and practice area, and ranked in tiers (or bands), with several accolades available to individual lawyers.

A full list of BHW’s rankings is below:

What they said

The following are testimonials received by the independent researchers for the Legal 500 2024 guide in reference to BHW:

‘The team at BHW are always commercially aware and have a brilliant ability to simplify often complex legal matters for everyone involved in an M&A transaction.’

‘Partner-led advice from highly experienced team which offers excellent advice with a keen eye on commerciality. Always take the time to ensure clients understand their matter and guide them through an often-complex journey to completion of the transaction.’

‘Always willing to go the extra mile, nothing is ever too much trouble.’

‘BHW stands out as a firm which provides excellent expert advice and services for a reasonable price. They do not overbill, everything is prepared well in advance with partner oversight, and they devote considerable effort into achieving the best outcome for the client.’

‘Everyone I have dealt with at BHW has been approachable and professional.’

‘The team have a strong breadth of knowledge and coordinate well within the business to provide prompt responses to queries. They also work with us as client to tailor their service and responses based on the circumstances as opposed to a ‘standard’ approach to the work they do for us.’

‘The communication from this team is excellent. There is always somebody available to assist with queries even when your usual contact is away or unavailable.’

‘Top quality team giving out straightforward, no-nonsense advice. Most firms claim to give it, this team actually does.’