Bath law firms are celebrating achieving some outstanding recommendations in the latest Legal 500, the UK’s leading guide to the legal sector – with a number of the city’s top lawyers earning top billing in their specialist areas.
More than 4m users visit The Legal 500 website each year, making it a powerful reference tool for the industry. The guide is aimed at buyers of legal services, particularly general and corporate counsel, and is researched annually by an independent and expert team. 
While its South West section is dominated, as in previous years, by Bristol’s large national firms, many lawyers based in Bath also get a chance to shine among the roll call of the region’s leading individuals.
Royds Withy King, which is headquartered in Bath, achieved eight top tier rankings, while Thrings, Stone King, Mogers Drewett, Mowbray Woodwards , Sharps and Battens also feature strongly.
Royds Withy King, which has two offices in the city, achieved the highest rankings for its work in personal injury, clinical negligence, commercial property, employment, family, and contentious trusts and probate in the South West.
Five of its partners have been singled out and named as ‘leading lawyers’ for their expertise in various specialist areas of private client and commercial law – Paul Rumley for clinical negligence, Louise Hart for personal injury, Stuart Brazington for specialist head and spinal injuries work, Amanda Noyce for contentious probate, and Edward Cooke as one of the top commercial property lawyers on the M4 corridor.
A further 74 lawyers from the firm are recommended in their respective practice areas, with three ranked in the newly created ‘next generation lawyers’ category. 
Managing partner Graham Street, pictured, said: “We are extremely pleased to have achieved another set of top level rankings which reflects not just our expertise in different practice areas but our unwavering commitment to client service. The firm’s revenues have grown over the last five years from £16m to £36m, around half of which can be attributed to organic growth.
“Our sights are now firmly set on consolidating our expanded range of services across all practice areas, with a new focus on specific sectors where the firm already has a significant client base, including retail and leisure, healthcare and social care and international banking. Further growth is also expected to come from our private client teams, advising and managing the legal needs of individuals and their families.”
Stone King was praised for its charity work, with The Legal 500 describing it as an “incredibly strong practice” with a team that is “well versed in its subject matter and provides timely, detailed responses to issues raised”.
In education, Stone King’s Bath-based specialists are said to form an integral part of the firm’s ‘first-class’ practice.” The firm also scores highly in dispute resolution, with the Legal 500 saying it “responds promptly to requests and encourages and maintains an excellent working relationship with its clients”.
Its family team has “vast experience allowing it to give advice that is sensitive and emphatic’, resulting in an ‘exemplary’ level of service” and its real estate lawyers are “prompt and knowledgeable” handling a steady flow of work for a host of long-standing clients. It attracts praise for its “expertise in what are often quite niche areas of law”, and for its sector specialisms in charity and education”.
Bath-based partner Tim Rutherford, who is also head of its charity and social enterprise sector, is noted for his “sharp, incisive mind and pertinent, focused and relevant contributions”. Jean Boyle, also a Bath-based partner, is named as a ‘next generation lawyer’ and is praised for her “responsiveness and clear in-depth knowledge of employment and pension law”.
Thrings’ corporate department is “well known for its work for corporates and owner-managed businesses in the healthcare, financial services and engineering and aerospace sectors”. In commercial litigation, the firm has “an excellent litigation practice capable of offering City-standard litigation at regional prices” in dispute resolution.
Thrings’ “approachable and knowledgeable” finance lawyers act primarily for lender clients but also act for borrowers in relation to refinancing and investment rounds, says the Legal 500. Mike Tomlin, pictured left, co-heads the practice and advised a borrower client on the high-value refinancing of senior and mezzanine facilities in connection with a property portfolio.
Its insolvency practice team are “reassuringly professional and effective”, specialising in acting in relation to insolvent or distressed mid-sized owner-managed businesses and is particularly strong in the professional services and agriculture sectors.
Legal 500 also described Thrings as “one of the leading agricultural firms nationally with an excellent team that excels in handling Agricultural Holdings Act and proprietary estoppel issues”.
Thrings acts for high-net-worth individuals, including farm and business owners, landed estates, and vulnerable individuals in the personal tax, trusts and probate area.
The firm also boasts a “knowledgeable and effective” planning department that has experience of contentious and non-contentious planning issues, acting for both individuals and corporates.
In intellectual property (IP) it is “one of the best firms in the South West for disputes” according to one client, fielding ‘an extremely knowledgeable team which provides a firs-class service’, while it media and entertainment Graeme Fearon handled a sponsorship dispute, assisted with a film piracy claim and advised an author and editor on negotiations with Cambridge University Press for revisions to a series of study guides, including advising on copyright, moral rights and royalties.
Mogers Drewett earns strong recommendations in areas such as corporate and commercial, where it acts for a range of SMEs and business owners in the tech, media and IT sectors, in addition to handling matters related to the hospitality, leisure and food and drink industries.
The firm’s disputes team, which acts for individuals, SMEs and national and international businesses, has been strengthened by several new arrivals to the team and a number of new client wins.
The firm also advises employers and employees on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious employment law issues.
In the private client area Jonathan Cheal has specialist expertise in public and private rights of way, advising on the management of public access on land, from preventing untoward public access to defending applications made by user groups for new routes. 
In personal tax, trusts and probate, Mogers Drewett advises high net worth individuals, including farmers and business owners, on inheritance tax and succession planning, and also handles estate administrations, often working on cross-border matters, while its family team is led by Victoria Strode, pictured right, who handles a broad range of family matters, and specialises in financial matters involving agricultural and farming disputes.
Mowbray Woodwards is described as “a well-respected Bath-based firm which fields a number of ‘solid, capable and hardworking family law specialists”. In the area of personal tax, trusts and probate, it provides “professional and timely communication”. Its crime team “provides the full range of specialist criminal defence services, with a particular focus on regulatory crime and motoring law”.
Battens Solicitors agricultural team, led by James Owen, combines “a deep understanding of the farming business” with “commercial awareness”, while in IP it advises on contentious and non-contentious design rights, trade mark and brand matters. Its media and entertainment group was established by Brian Levine, who joined from an in-house role and splits his time between Yeovil, London and Bath.
Sharp Family Law “genuinely has its client’s interests at heart” and is singled out for its “practical and collaborative approach to family law”.
