Manchester commercial law firm Kuits has moved up the rankings to obtain its best-ever results in The Legal 500 UK, a research publication that analyses and ranks the abilities of law firms across the country.
Kuits was once again the only firm in the North West to receive the highest ranking possible for its licensing department. Tony Lyons, Head of Licensing, maintained Elite Lawyer status – the highest level of recognition awarded to individuals by The Legal 500 – and was praised for his ‘second to none’ knowledge of the licensing trade.
Kuits’ personal tax, trusts and probate team also retained its top-tier ranking, with Head of Tax and Probate, Graham Wood, also preserving his Elite Lawyer accolade, together with Head of Corporate and Commercial Rob Buckley.
Three others joined the Elite Lawyer list: Tony Fitzmaurice from the Commercial Property team; Head of Intellectual Property Ian Morris, who was described by clients as ‘tenacious, sensible and tactically astute’; and Head of Employment Kevin McKenna, whose ‘organised, efficient, diligent and knowledgeable’ team moved up to a Tier 2 ranking this year.
Fifteen other lawyers were selected for spots on the Recommended Lawyers list for the first time, taking the overall number to 39 across all departments, which impressively constitutes over 40% of the firm’s lawyer base.
Steve Eccleston, managing partner at Kuits, commented: “We are proud to have improved on our existing high standing in the Legal 500 tables, ranking us among the best firms in the North West. Being listed alongside, and in most cases higher than, much larger firms than ourselves is testament to the quality of our people, their dedication and the trusted advice they provide to our client base of SMEs, owner-managed businesses and high-net-worth individuals.
“We focus on providing the best legal and commercial advice to our clients, so to have them talk about the service we provide in such glowing terms - alongside our best-ever rankings to date - is fantastic and will be particularly rewarding for our team.”
The Legal 500 annual ranking is based on feedback from 250,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading practice lawyers, as well as a team of researchers with experience in the legal market.
The Legal 500 2017
North West Top-Tier Firm
- Crime, fraud and licensing: Licensing
- Private Client: Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate
North West Ranked Firm
- Corporate and Commercial: Corporate and commercial – Manchester
- Dispute Resolution: Commercial Litigation – Manchester
- Finance: Banking and Finance
- Human Resources: Employment
- Human Resources: Employment: Employee/Union Firms
- Private Client: Charities and Not-For-Profit
- Private Client: Contentious Trusts and Probate
- Private Client: Family
- Real Estate: Commercial Property - Manchester
- Real Estate: Property Litigation
- Technology, Media and Telecoms: IT and Telecoms
- Technology, Media and Telecoms: Intellectual Property
Elite Lawyers
- Employment – Kevin McKenna
- Intellectual Property – Ian Morris
- Commercial Property – Tony Fitzmaurice
- Corporate and Commercial – Rob Buckley
- Licensing – Anthony Lyons
- Private Client – Graham Wood
Recommended Lawyers
- Corporate and Commercial – Manchester – Kirsti Pinnell, Robert Levy, Martin Lewis, Peter Allen, James Wall
- Crime, fraud and licensing: Licensing – Felicity Tulloch, Rebecca Ingram
- Dispute Resolution: Commercial Litigation – Andrew Weinberg, Damian Bailey, David Jones
- Finance: Banking and Finance – George Macmillan, David Marlor, Steve Eccleston, Alison Kellett, Meave O’Neill
- Human Resources: Employment – Sally Bird
- Human Resources: Employment: Employee/Union Firms – Sally Bird, Lorna Rigby
- Private Client: Contentious Trusts and Probate – Andrew Weinberg, Cyril Rose
- Private client - Personal tax, trusts and probate – Paul Bricknell, David Chambers
- Real Estate: Commercial Property – Nick Nyunt, Steve Eccleston, David Haffner, Stephen Lopeman, Martin Davies, Adam Hymes, Chris Hardy, David Moroney
- Real Estate: Property Litigation – Andrew Weinberg, Ben Connor, Catherine Gritt, David Jones, Phil Warburton
- Technology, Media and Telecoms: IT and Telecoms – Martin Lewis, Damian Bailey
- Technology, Media and Telecoms: Intellectual Property – Martin Lewis, Bruce Jones, Claire Meyers, Yasmin Kalantari
