Clarkslegal has again been recognised as a Top-Tier firm in the latest Legal 500 guide, which ranks the UK’s top lawyers and law firms.
Clarkslegal is delighted to be recognised for its work in the following areas of law: Construction, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Property, Corporate & Commercial, Employment and Immigration.
Along with the recognition of our practice areas, six of our outstanding solicitors have been recommended by the directory. Antony Morris and Michael Sippitt were included in the prestigious ‘Hall of Fame’ list. Congratulations to Chris Tayton and Simon Ralphs for their new ‘Leading Partner’ rankings, alongside Monica Atwal. Emma Butcher retained her ranking as a ‘Next Generation Partner’.
The strong rankings are further endorsed by highly complementary client and peer feedback.
The Legal 500 is an independent guide that reviews and recognises the strengths of law firms and their lawyers based on extensive research and feedback from clients and peers.
Please see below a selection of client quote extracts from the editorial:
Employment
Noted for providing a ‘personalised and authentic service’, Clarkslegal LLP harnesses its bench strength to operate for global clients in various complex industrial relations, organisational change, and outsourcing mandates in the realm of employment, with other streams of work being comprised of TUPE transfers, redundancy programmes, and employee engagement projects. Helen Beech steers the practice, capitalising on more than 30 years’ experience in the field to assist with complex restructurings and an array of other issues such as whistleblowing. Managing partner Monica Atwal is capable of handling sex discrimination and equal pay claims, while industrial action expert Michael Sippitt is noted for his knowledge of global and EU labour relations issues.
“The practice in Reading is extremely experienced, talented and responsive. I worked with 3 partners, all excellent.”
“The team has truly become more than a third-party supplier, we would consider Monica Atwal and the team to be part of our organisation! This has been achieved by Clarkslegal taking the time and initiative to really understand our business.”
“Monica supports the education around employment law of our managers and leaders. She conducts annual development programmes, which in turn support a more proactive approach to employee relations.”
“Consistently outstanding service from Helen Beech and the employment law team. She is extremely responsive, has a deep understanding of our business, and offers highly effective, pragmatic solutions.”
“The combination of responsiveness and thoroughness makes the team stand out.”
“The personalised and authentic service they provide and their balanced and commercial approach are standout factors.”
“Monica Atwal is very responsive, authentic, balanced and provides equal amounts of challenge and support. She is very strategic and continues to evolve her business and the team that works with her. Monica is an incredible lawyer and leader.”
“Helen Beech leads an excellent team. She is reactive, technically excellent and committed.”
Immigration
Assisting a roster of multinational companies, Clarkslegal LLP has in-depth experience across the scope of business immigration, including securing employer sponsorship licences and employee visas, litigating enforcement notices and illegal working penalties. Another key area of experience is securing Global Business Mobility, UK Expansion Worker visas, and recruitment and transfer of senior employees. Monica Atwal leads the team out of Reading and specialises in global transfers, particularly at director level. The ‘very knowledgeable’ Rebecca Hone, based across Reading and London, is regarded for her client relationships with global corporations as well as advising HNW individuals on visas and acquiring settlement.
“Having dealt with large global organisations for support on immigration matters, I was very impressed by Clarkslegal’s team. The team is knowledgeable on the topics and related legislation, is responsive, collaborative, and more than capable of advising us on our specific immigration needs. The advice given to us and the support to our employees by Clarkslegal was superb.”
“Very helpful with complicated employee relations matters.”
Commercial Litigation
Noted for its ‘strong business-minded approach’, Clarkslegal LLP operates for a stellar client roster, within the automotive sector in particular. Disputes covered by the group include matters relating to international trade, public procurement, and outsourcing issues. Practice head and ’tactical heavyweight’ Antony Morris‘ arsenal of skills extends from corporate and commercial disputes to IT and telecoms claims. Christopher Tayton leverages his disputes experience to handle commercial injunctions and fraud claims. Other key names to note in the practice includes ’formidable’ construction expert Stephen James and ‘intellectually excellent’ Emma Butcher, who demonstrates particular proficiencies in relation to public procurement and product liability matters.
“Clarkslegal has a strong business-minded approach to litigation, which is not just for show. It is strategically involved with the Confederation of British Industry and has strong links with similar organisations internationally.”
‘‘Antony Morris is a tactical heavyweight. He gets into the detail of the case and triages the best and worst arguments very effectively. As a result, his advice is incredibly commercial and practical.”
‘’Stephen James is impressive and a formidable opponent. He prepares a case impeccably and identifies what to look for at an early stage. He has an excellent understanding of settlement techniques and negotiations and delivers them very effectively in practice.”
“On procurement and product liability claims, Emma Butcher is intellectually excellent, and a very reassuring litigator to work with.”
“The team are very dedicated to their clients and have a longstanding list of repeat customers as a result. Preparation is always great, and partner input happens at all stages, more so than with other firms.”
“Antony Morris – extremely reassuring in his knowledge and gravitas.”
“The team is extremely engaged and responsive, going the extra mile for clients.”
“Antony Morris and Emma Butcher are very hands on partners, who know their cases inside out and keep their clients closely informed.”
Corporate & Commercial
Ashan Arif leads the Clarkslegal LLP corporate department, with wide-ranging capabilities which span private equity, M&A, asset and business transfers, as well as more general corporate matters. The team is noted for its strength in employee ownership transactions, and is active for global corporations and FTSE companies in M&A, private equity investments and shareholder issues. Corporate transactional expert Stuart Mullins is another name to note in the practice.
“This firm is big enough to have breadth of capability but small enough to retain client relationship personalisation.”
“Ashan Arif is very detailed and methodical.”‘
“Jon Chapman is an M&A expert, but a really experienced generalist as well.”
“Clarkslegal proved to be an outstanding leading corporate legal advisor in UK M&A due to their ability to work while keeping the highest professional standards.”
“They provide a business effective (rather than pure technical legal) approach”’
“In-depth legal knowledge.”
Commercial Property
With an established presence across the education, healthcare, motor retail and hotel sectors, Clarkslegal LLP is well-positioned to handle matters pertaining to public procurements, charity issues and property financings. Simon Ralphs leads the team with vast expertise in development and investment work; he is a strong choice for institutional investors, retailers and property funds. Pierre Dutton, who was promoted to partner in September 2023, handles acquisitions, disposals and insolvency work for a diverse range of clients.
“Simon Ralphs is outstanding.”
Construction
Working out of the Reading office, Stephen James leads the practice at Clarkslegal LLP, which handles the full spectrum of matters relating to construction projects, including procurement contracts, tender drafting, and joint ventures, in addition to issues arising out of contractor insolvency. James is recommended for his handling of disputes, including defect claims and contract time extensions. Antony Morris is noted for his experience in professional negligence claims against architects and contractors.
“Clarkslegal has a strong business-minded approach to litigation. The construction team are genuine experts in unpacking and dissecting construction claims, from payment disputes through to the most complex of claims on large-scale projects.”
“Antony Morris is a standout litigator. He has a very pragmatic style and distils complicated concepts in a very understandable way.”
“Stephen James is a tough opponent who prepares a case immaculately. He is also a very impressive negotiator who is effortlessly persuasive.”
“They always respond in a timely fashion.”
You can view Clarkslegal’s rankings on the Legal 500 website here.