Legal 500 2008
The Legal 500 is a guide to the legal profession published every year. It is compiled after interviews with over 3,000 clients and again this year has listed Leigh Day & Co and its partners in the top positions for their areas of speciality. They use a ranking tier system to rate the firms. This year more solicitors than ever have been named as leading specialists in their fields. Those named as recommended lawyers are: Richard Stein, Frances Swaine, Sean Humber, Alison Millar, Jamie Beagent, Claire Fazan, Russell Levy, Anne Winyard, Henry Dyson, Olive Lewin, Shurouk Al-Sabbagh, Martyn Day, Sally Moore, Sapna Malik, Bozena Michalowska Howells, Gene Matthews and Jill Paterson.
Administrative and public law - Rank 1
Rising to the top tier this year, Leigh Day & Co is recognised by peers and clients alike for its ‘high-quality’ and ‘wonderful’ practice. The firm’s highlights included representing CAAT in the judicial review into the SFO’s decision to drop its investigation against BAE Systems, as well as bringing Norwich Pharmacal proceedings against BAE for obtaining copies of privileged legal advice given to CAAT. The team is led by Richard Stein, who is ‘great in meetings’. Jamie Beagent is ‘a pleasure to work with’, and the ‘invaluable’ Sean Humber, Alison Millar and Frances Swaine all come highly recommended.
Civil liberties
Leigh Day & Co’s four-partner practice is ‘recommended unreservedly’ by clients who value the firm’s ‘supportive, efficient and professional’ style. Practice head Frances Swaine continues to work on the Jeremiah Duggan case, requesting a second inquest. Sean Humber receives praise from clients who describe him as being ‘at the forefront of prison healthcare judicial review arguments’. Richard Stein is highly respected for his ‘excellent knowledge’, and Jamie Beagent and Alison Millar are also highly rated.
‘A very sensible firm with good judgement’, Leigh Day & Co’s public law practice has been instrumental in some key educational policy issues, including those relating to city academies, with the ‘knowledgeable and approachable’ Richard Stein recommended.
Clinical negligence - Rank 1
With ‘one of the best reputations for clinical negligence work’, Leigh Day & Co remains the frontrunner in the market. Praised for its ‘ empathetic’ and ‘ ethical, professional and client-based’ approach, the team - jointly led by Anne Winyard and Russell Levy- has 12 partners, nine solicitors and an array of chartered forensic accountants and nurses. The practice is distinguished by its breadth, with each partner developing specialisms as well as evolving new areas of work, and is celebrated for its experience in complex and high-value cases. The highly rated Anne Winyard is renowned for her work in pre-natal injury cases, and the ‘ reassuring’ and ‘ professional’ Russell Levy has developed a line of expertise in hospital-acquired infection cases. The ‘ thorough’ and ‘ honest’ team includes the highly recommended Henry Dyson, Claire Fazan, Frances Swaine, Olive Lewin and Shurouk Al-Sabbagh.
Environment
‘ Very good’ niche outfit Leigh Day & Co, led by managing partner Martyn Day, represents both organisations and individual claimants across the full gamut of environment litigation. Ongoing matters include representing 15,000 people from the Ivory Coast claiming injury from toxic waste, and advising Action on Smoking and Health on issues relating to the smoking ban.
Healthcare
Claimant practice Leigh Day & Co has been involved in some key judicial reviews concerning issues such as access to and refusal of treatment and prison healthcare. Francis Swaine‘ takes on unusual cases for clients who are the most vulnerable’
Personal injury
As well as handling personal injury work such as RTA, sports injury and industrial disease claims, the 20-strong team at Leigh Day & Co has represented claimants in headline-grabbing cases such as the Northwick Park Hospital drug trials and the case involving veterans from Porton Down who were subject to various gases in World War II. The practice has a strong international element, and has brought numerous claims for groups of foreign nationals injured by the actions of British companies or European entities. Practice heads Sally Moore and Martyn Day are highly regarded in the market, attracting praise for their ‘ knowledge and expertise’.
Product liability - Rank 1
Leigh Day & Co is ‘ exactly the firm one would expect to see at the top of the list’, recognised by peers and clients alike for its stellar reputation in the field. The firm was successful in a Silzone heart valve case, in which it was alleged that the valve was defective due to its silver coating. Martyn Day is a ‘ leader in claimant work’; he heads a team featuring Bozena Michalowska-Howells, Sapna Malik, Gene Matthews and Jill Paterson.
