The 2025 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 13 – two 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 – 47 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:
- Corporate and Commercial
- Dispute Resolution – Commercial Litigation
- Dispute Resolution – Debt Recovery
- Finance - Insolvency and Corporate Recovery
- Human Resources - Employment
- Human Resources - Employment – Health and Safety
- Private Client – Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate
- Real Estate - Commercial Property
- Real Estate – Environment & Planning
- Real Estate - Property litigation
- Real Estate – Social Housing
- Technology, Media & Telecoms - Intellectual Property
- Technology, Media & Telecoms – Media and Entertainment
Eight further Howes Percival specialisms are recommended in the guide; Agriculture and Estates, Banking and Finance, Construction, Contentious Trusts and Probate, Family, Licensing, Public Sector and IT and Telecoms.
The Legal 500 highlights individuals who have received constant praise from their clients for continued excellence. 30 Howes Percival lawyers are recognised by the legal directory as ‘leading individuals’, with a further six noted as ‘next generation Partners’.
In total, 11 Howes Percival Partners achieved ‘Hall of Fame’ status this year, three more than last year – Paula Bailey (Employment), Steven Beach (Commercial Property), Cathleen Blackburn (Intellectual Property), Geraint Davies (Litigation and Insolvency), Gerald Couldrake (Corporate, Commercial and Banking), Andrew Harris (Corporate, Commercial and Banking), Tessa Haskey (Commercial Property), Michaela Henson (Commercial Property), Graham Irons (Employment), Steven Maier (Intellectual Property) and Matthew Talbot (Intellectual Property).
Howes Percival’s clients range from individuals and families to global businesses and government departments. In August 2023, the firm launched a new two-year expansion plan to meet increased demand for its services, creating 50 brand new roles, including partners, solicitors and support roles, across all its offices.
Howes Percival’s chairperson, Geraint Davies commented;
“I’m absolutely delighted with this set of rankings and recommendations. The results highlight the journey we’ve been on in the last 12 months to continue to invest in and grow the firm and attract the very best talent. In addition to our traditional strengths such as corporate, employment, commercial property, litigation and private client, we now have real clout in multiple geographic locations where we are increasingly seen as a go-to team in the above areas but also for specialisms such as IP, technology, media & telecoms.
“While it is also fantastic to see so many of our lawyers spotlighted this year, I’m so proud of the whole team. We set out to make life more sure for our clients and are achieving this by building strong relationships with them and constantly seeking to improve our service. We have also really invested in our support teams, who work closely with our lawyers to make sure that we are using technology and other innovations in a way that genuinely improves the client experience that we offer. Clients appreciate this approach which has created the foundation for further growth going forward.”
Full details of Howes Percival’s rankings can be found on The Legal 500 website.