Legal 500 – the world’s leading legal services benchmarking platform – has officially launched its UK 2027 rankings today [30 September].

We’re delighted to announce that Pannone Corporate has, once again, featured strongly across the Legal 500 rankings. The Legal 500 recognises the best law firms and lawyers in the North West across a wide range of practice areas and sectors, highlighting those receiving the strongest feedback from clients and peers.

In total, 17 of our lawyers feature in the Legal 500 UK 2027 rankings for their excellent contribution to their respective practices. This includes:

• Two ‘Hall of Fame’ lawyers
• Six ‘leading partners’
• Four ‘next generation partners’, and
• Three ‘leading associates’.

Those featured in the Legal 500 rankings are:

• Hall of Fame: Tim Hamilton – North West, Corporate and Commercial; Corporate and Commercial, Manchester
• Hall of Fame: Paul Jonson – North West, Dispute Resolution; Commercial Litigation, Manchester
• Leading Partners: Tom Hall – North West, Corporate and Commercial; Corporate and Commercial, Manchester
• Leading Partners: Jack Harrington – North West, Employment
• Leading Partners: David Walton – North West, Health & Safety
• Leading Partners: Nicola Marchant – North West, Private Client; Contentious Trusts and Probate
• Leading Partners: David Brown – North West, Real Estate; Property Litigation
• Leading Partners: Amy Chandler – North West, TMT (technology, media and telecoms); Intellectual Property; IT and Telecoms
• Next Generation Partners: Andrew Walsh – North West, Corporate and Commercial; Corporate and Commercial, Manchester
• Next Generation Partners: Jonny Scholes – North West, Private Client; Contentious Trusts and Probate
• Next Generation Partners: Gemma Staples – North West, Real Estate; Property Litigation
• Next Generation Partners: Sarah Bazaraa – North West, TMT (technology, media and telecoms); Intellectual Property; Media and Entertainment
• Leading Associates: Denise Lamb – North West, Dispute Resolution; Debt Recovery
• Leading Associates: Elizabeth Walsh – North West, Private Client; Contentious Trusts and Probate
• Leading Associates: Patricia Jones – North West, TMT (technology, media and telecoms); Intellectual Property. 

The firm’s practice areas also continue to rank highly amongst those within the profession, with 12 firm rankings. Pannone has top tier practice areas in TMT (technology, media and telecoms): Intellectual Property; TMT: Media and Entertainment; and Private Client: Contentious Trusts and Probate. A further six practices areas are ranked in the second tier and recommended in the listings. These teams are:

• Corporate and commercial
• Dispute resolution: commercial litigation
• Dispute resolution: debt recovery
• Employment
• Health & safety
• TMT: IT and telecoms.

Paul Jonson, senior partner at Pannone Corporate, commented: “The Legal 500 UK rankings demonstrate real strength and depth in the firm in the Manchester and wider North West market, with deserved recognition across both practice areas and team, from partners through to associates.

“This builds on our number one ranking as the most highly recommended law firm in the North West, according to Legal 500 data from client referees announced earlier this year. Both rankings reflect our unwavering approach to client-focused and commercially framed legal services, led by a team who are passionate about delivering technically excellent, practical and commercial advice. Congratulations to everyone on another outstanding year and a big “thank you” as ever to our clients and contacts.”

Standout comments from clients include:

• IP – The team has strength in depth across both contentious and non-contentious matters. They punch well above their weight and are a joy to work with.
• Contentious trusts and probate – Commercial problem solvers rather than just lawyers.
• Commercial litigation – A trusted adviser that consistently exceeds expectations and delivers outstanding outcomes on the most significant and complex matters.
• Corporate and commercial – Brilliant team to work with. They have a dedication and pragmatic approach to getting workflows progressing and finding ways to keep the third parties on track.
• Debt recovery – Fantastic team to deal with – always on hand to provide support, guidance, and assistance.
• Employment – Collaboration. Working with Pannone is like working with a colleague.
• IT & Telecoms – Utmost professionalism balanced with a really personal approach. My go-to if I need support again in the future. I have a sense of being in very capable hands.
• Commercial property – The individuals we work with in Pannone’s Real Estate team stand out for their commercial awareness, responsiveness, and practical approach.
• Property Litigation – Commercially minded, experienced lawyers.
• Insolvency and corporate recovery – The partners are very hands-on. In particular, Daniel Clarke and Helen Fyles know their cases inside out and are very knowledgeable.

Legal 500 is the world’s leading legal services benchmarking platform, delivering trusted insights through comprehensive research processes and proprietary data from 300,000+ clients and 60,000+ law firm submissions annually. More than 150 researchers and analysts evaluate law firms against a range of practice area competencies, industry sector expertise and client satisfaction metrics.