Stewarts has achieved ten top-tier practice group rankings in the 2024 edition of The Legal 500 UK solicitors’ guide, more than any year previously. Fourteen of our departments are ranked and a record 53 of our lawyers have received individual rankings.

Our practice acting in Group Actions has been recognised in Tier 1 within the newly introduced Group Litigation: Claimant category. Our “highly regarded” offering has a “track record of high-profile roles on a raft of other headline-making claims, including the Ingenious and Eclipse film scheme cases and Asda Stores Limited & Others v Mastercard in the Supreme Court.”

This year our Divorce and Family team is once again top ranked in London and Leeds. “Stewarts floats above the stratosphere of the family law world with the largest collection of the highest altitude talent in the sphere,” the guide’s sources say. The team is described as consisting of “first-rate partners supported by outstanding associates. Stewarts maintains the same standards of excellence at every level, which allows them to provide value for money without skimping on the service they deliver.”

The guide describes our top-ranked Personal Injury team in London as “first-class litigators who get excellent results for their clients”. Sources say Stewarts is “without question the leading UK firm for catastrophic injury claims” with a “superb degree of client care and attention to the individual case. The strength in depth of the Stewarts team is on a different level to other firms.”

Our Clinical Negligence team is described as “undoubtedly Tier 1” for claimant work, with a focus on high-value, complex claims and “particular expertise regarding spinal claims of the highest complexity.” Interviewees say the team are “premier league leaders in the field, operating in London and the North. No firm is better qualified to investigate and fight cases of the utmost severity and highest value.”

This year’s guide re-establishes distinct Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence rankings in Yorkshire and the Humber; Stewarts is top-ranked in both. The Personal Injury team in Leeds is “differentiated by its ability to offer clients representation by catastrophic injury specialists working smaller caseloads to provide bespoke services, primarily in relation to serious spinal and brain injuries, amputations, and other complex mandates.” Our Clinical Negligence team “ensures a high quality of representation for clients by providing specialists in the most complex issues of clinical negligence and keeping the caseload low to maintain a bespoke level of service.”

Our Aviation and International Injury teams are again top-ranked together in the ‘Travel’ category and described by the guide as “the créme de la créme of the travel and international law personal injury market.” The Legal 500 says Stewarts is “well-equipped to advise on the remit of catastrophic and fatal injury matters in international contexts for claimants and their families.” A source said: “I honestly couldn’t ask for more and feel incredibly grateful to be working with such a bright and incredible team.”

For the second consecutive year, our Trust and Probate Litigation is ranked in Tier 1 for its work “both domestically and internationally” and “expertise in complex, large-scale and often high-profile trust, probate and capacity disputes both in England and other major jurisdictions.” Interviewees say “Stewarts are widely regarded as the best specialist litigation firm in London. Their partner bench is superb, and each of them brings something exceptional to the table.”

Top-ranked in Leeds and also highly-ranked in London, our Commercial Litigation team “has fantastic strength and depth in heavy commercial litigation, acting on high-profile and high-value claims.” Sources acknowledge the London team as “one of the best in the market. They have an excellent mix of partners and associates with in-depth expertise in both general commercial litigation and competition litigation.”

The Legal 500 again acknowledges our practice in Fraud and Banking Litigation. 2024’s guide says Stewarts is “one of the top litigation teams in London, and one that acts frequently for some of the largest international financial institutions, multi-national corporations, and high-net-worth individuals.”

In their first year eligible for ranking, our Policyholder Disputes team is listed in Tier 3. Sources for the guide describe them as “a great new insurance team under Aaron Le Marquer, who came in with one of the very leading COVID business interruption practices… the team is immensely experienced, agile, well resourced, and tenacious.”

Also ranked in Tier 3, our Tax Litigation and Resolution department “has broad tax expertise, with areas of strength including corporate residence, domicile, and transactions in securities legislation.” Feedback reports that “Stewarts’ tax litigation team is top class, with leading practitioners who really know their stuff and take an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to maximising their clients’ claims.”

Our Competition team is ranked again this year. Described as “an excellent team handling very heavy competition disputes, mainly from a claimant perspective,” sources say “they are supremely well-organised with deep expertise.”

Ranked in Tier 4, our Employment team is recognised in particular for its work in the financial services and banking sectors. The “highly focused team delivering work of the highest quality” is summarised as “extremely strategic but also with strong attention to detail.”

Recognising the work of our Commercial and Tax Litigation teams, our listing in the Professional Negligence category says “Stewarts have a litigation practice second to none. Its analysis of strengths and weaknesses of a claim is absolute, meaning that client’s get detailed, comprehensive and realistic advice.”

Maintaining their Band 5 ranking, our International Arbitration team covers commercial and investor-state arbitration, along with arbitration-related litigation before the English Courts. “Clients achieve excellent results with Stewarts”, according to interviewee feedback. “A go-to team for international arbitration.” The team is recognised for its work representing both companies and states, including the Republic of Poland; and secures Stewarts an additional “Firms to Watch” ranking for Public International Law.

For the first time, our Insolvency and Asset Recovery team is ranked in The Legal 500. “Leaving no stone unturned in seeking to formulate the strongest possible cases for their clients,” the team is made up of “highly skilled litigators who know their stuff inside out.”

Stewarts’ full rankings in The Legal 500 can be found here.

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