Legal 'Bible' Ranks Thrings Top

Thrings has been named as a Band One firm for corporate law, litigation, agriculture and rural affairs, environment, family law and personal injury in the 2014 edition of Chambers UK.

Seen as ‘the bible’ for identifying the best lawyers and firms in the UK across 100 different sectors, it is the most in-depth review of the professional available.

 The Chambers Band One accolade follows the firm’s Top Tier ranking for agriculture and estates in the recent Legal 500 law directory, published in September.

Peter Cusick, who heads the agriculture team from the Thrings Bath office, was identified as giving an ‘excellent service’ and working determinedly on behalf of his clients.  Neil Barbour and Duncan Sigournay, also based in Bath, received recognition as notable practitioners. 

Construction, real estate, employment, intellectual property, planning, environmental and restructuring/insolvency were identified as noted areas of expertise for the Bristol-based office.  Nine solicitors were identified as being leaders in the respective fields.

Head of the south west real estate practice, Colin Stratton, was named as a notable practitioner for his work with residential developers on strategic land transactions and negotiating promotion agreements.  The team is known for their expertise on residential development matters as well as corporate occupier transactions and received special mention for their work on the sale of leasehold and freehold properties in Bath for WIA Group and DSP (Bath), totaling in excess of £3.1 million.

Eric Livingstone and Steve McCombe were highlighted for their work in construction law and with clients including Bristol Water, NatWest, Wessex Water and Clydesdale Bank, the team advise on contentious and non-contentious matters in the energy, renewables, leisure and healthcare sectors.

In the restructuring and insolvency team, Mark Cullingford and Melissa George have been recognized as notable practitioners.  The team is known for their advice to SMEs, property owners, company directors and leading accountancy practices, with a highlight being their work on the liquidation of personal injury law firm, Lawyers at Work, for which the combined value of asset recover and claims reached £2 million.

Simon Holdsworth, managing partner, said:  “Chambers is one of the most prestigious legal directories in the UK, as well as across the globe.   For so many of our talented lawyers to feature in this year’s edition, as well as having the environment team recognized for the first time, is excellent news and well-deserved recognition of the talent, skill and dedication of our colleagues.”