The 2026 edition of The Legal 500 – the authoritative guide to the UK’s leading law firms – has recommended Howes Percival for 21 different legal specialisms and awarded the firm top tier ranking for 14 – one more than last year.
The guide, which is based on independent research, interviews and feedback from clients about the service they receive from firms and lawyers, also recognises the UK’s leading lawyers – 48 Howes Percival lawyers are individually recognised in this year’s directory, as either ‘leading individuals’, ‘next generation Partners’ or are honoured with the guide’s ‘Hall of Fame’ status.
Howes Percival has achieved top tier rankings for:
Seven further Howes Percival specialisms are recommended in the guide; Agriculture and Estates, Banking and Finance, Charities and Not-For-Profit, Construction, Contentious Trusts and Probate, Public Sector and IT and Telecoms.
The Legal 500 highlights individuals who have received constant praise from their clients for continued excellence. 28 Howes Percival lawyers are recognised by the legal directory as ‘leading individuals’, with a further 11 noted as ‘next generation Partners’.
In total, 9 Howes Percival Partners achieved ‘Hall of Fame’ status this year, including Paula Bailey (Employment), Steven Beach (Commercial Property), Cathleen Blackburn (Intellectual Property), Geraint Davies (Litigation and Insolvency), Tessa Haskey (Commercial Property), Michaela Henson (Commercial Property), Graham Irons (Employment), Steven Maier (Intellectual Property) and Matthew Talbot (Intellectual Property).
Howes Percival has created over 100 brand new roles in the last four years and increased the number of partners to over 70. In July, the firm reported an increase in annual turnover of 22%, the third double-digit turnover rise in three years.
Howes Percival’s chairperson, Geraint Davies commented;
This is another fantastic set of rankings and recommendations for Howes Percival, and they are a credit to the entire team that has worked so hard over the last 12 months. They also reflect the ongoing transformation the firm has been through in the last few years. The investment in our people, our offices, technology and our services has helped us build on our traditional strengths with a wider offering and genuine depth in terms of expertise. We now attract the very best talent – lawyers know we are a forward looking, growing firm that can help them develop their practice and their career and I think that shows in the individual rankings this year.
While growth remains our goal and we are well ahead on our target to become a £50m turnover firm – we aim to achieve this by maintaining a laser focus on supporting and serving our clients. The investments we’ve made are all aligned around the same objective – whether that means technology and innovation that improves the client experience or growing our support teams to help build even stronger relationships, we are dedicated to making life more sure for our clients.
Full details of Howes Percival’s rankings can be found on The Legal 500 website.
