Shropshire law firm achieves record year in national guide rankings

That number is the firm’s highest ever and is up from 61 in 2023, with 17 different practice areas also being recommended in the Legal 500 – seen by many as the gold standard across the UK’s law industry.

Six of the firm’s Partners were awarded a place on Legal 500’s prestigious ‘Leading Individuals’ list. Layla Barke-Jones, a Dispute Resolution Partner who represented Delta Merseyside earlier this year in a high-profile court battle against Uber, has made the list for the first time.

She joins Stuart Scott-Goldstone, Head of the Corporate & Commercial team; David Harries, Head of Planning, Environmental, Energy and Regulation; and John Devoy, Commercial Litigation Partner; who all keep their places alongside Emma McGlinchey, Partner and Head of Real Estate; and Chris Mitchell, a Partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency team, who were both added to the list in 2023.

Elsewhere, Contentious Trusts & Probate Senior Associate Solicitor Vlad Macdonald-Munteanu; and Wills, Trust and Tax Senior Associate Solicitor Paul Caslin have risen from ‘Rising Stars’ to ‘Leading Associates’.

Five lawyers from Aaron & Partners made the ‘Next Generation Partner’ list, including Corporate & Commercial Partner Jamie Hawley; Real Estate Partner Joe Fletcher-Hunt, Head of Family Law, Simon Magner Mawdsley; Real Estate Partner, Iwan Williams and Employment Law Partner, Ben Mason.

There were brand-new recommendations for Andrew Lees (Real Estate), Stephen Taylor (Dispute Resolution), Amy Morris (Wills, Trusts and Tax), Trish Randles (Real Estate) and Matthew Martin (Restructuring and Insolvency), who have all been added to this year’s Legal 500 listings.

And the firm also picked up a new ‘Client Satisfaction’ accolade, which is awarded to law firms who achieve exceptionally high scores for client service and client experience in Legal 500’s annual survey of hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide.

The latest rankings help reinforce Aaron & Partners’ position as one of the region’s top legal firms. In addition to its Shrewsbury base, the firm has offices Chester, Altrincham and Wirral.

Nick Clarke, Senior Partner at Aaron & Partners, said: " The annual release of The Legal 500 is always a highlight for us. It offers clients and the wider public an excellent perspective on leading legal professionals and provides us with a benchmark to compare our standing against other firms, both locally and nationally.

“This year’s rankings have been our strongest yet, with even more individuals receiving recommendations and numerous testimonials highlighting our impact. It’s a testament to the skill, hard work and commitment of everyone at Aaron & Partners and I’m pleased to see it being recognised."

The rankings revealed that the firm’s Corporate and Commercial team retained its Tier 1 status in the ‘Elsewhere in the North West’ rankings. Stuart Scott-Goldstone, Jamie Hawley and Corporate & Commercial Senior Associate Solicitor Jennifer Harrison were all recognised within the category. In the ‘Elsewhere in the West Midlands’ category, the Corporate and Commercial team maintained its status as Tier 4 with Stuart Scott Goldstone, Hugh Strickland, Corporate Finance Partner & Head of Shrewsbury Office; Zoe Lloyd, Corporate & Commercial Senior Associate Solicitor; Corporate and Commercial Partner, Peter Manford and Corporate and Commercial Partner, Stuart Haynes all recommended.

The Agriculture & Estates team also retained Tier 2 status in the North West. Several testimonials praised the team, with Joe Fletcher-Hunt; Real Estate Partner, Brent Williams and Real Estate Consultant Simon Ellis all highlighted within the guide.

Aaron & Partners’ Commercial Litigation team also retained Tier 2 status in the ‘Elsewhere in the North West’ category and Tier 3 in the ‘Elsewhere in the West Midlands’ category, with partners Nick Clarke, David Harries, Layla Barke-Jones, Stephen Taylor, David Potts, John Devoy, and Senior Associate Claire Hughes all mentioned.

Ranked at the same Tier 2 level for the North West were the Contentious Trusts & Probate team. Contentious Trusts & Probate Partner James Wallace was highlighted alongside Vlad Macdonald-Munteanu.

The Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate team boosted their ranking from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in the North West and achieved Tier 3 in the West Midlands, with Clive Pointon, Head of Wills, Trusts and Tax featuring alongside James Wallace, Vlad Macdonald-Munteanu, Paul Caslin, Rowena Ridgway and Amy Morris, Wills, Trusts and Tax Senior Associate.

The Commercial Property team also received Tier 2 status in the ‘Elsewhere in the North West’ category[NC1] and Tier 4 Status in the ‘Elsewhere in the West Midlands’ category. Emma McGlinchey and Iwan Williams both received special mentions alongside Joe Fletcher-Hunt, Brent Williams and Trish Randles.

The Employment Law team was ranked in Tier 3 in the North West and[NC2] Tier 4 in the West Midlands (up from Tier 5) with Department Head, Helen Watson, Partners Claire Brook, Adam Haines and Ben Mason and Senior Associate Jennifer Gibson all recognised.

Also ranking at Tier 3 in the North West was Aaron and Partner’s Family team. Head of Department Simon Magner Mawdsley featured alongside Family Law Partners Lorraine Saunders and Victoria Syvret. Caroline Cockhill-Guy, an Altrincham-based Family Law Partner who joined the firm earlier this year, was also recognised.

There were also Tier 3 North West rankings for the firm in the Energy Projects section with David Harries noted, as well as the North West Planning and Environment category with David Harries featuring again alongside Planning, Environmental, Energy and Regulatory Partner Mark Turner, and Solicitors, Bryony Chambers-Towers and Olivia Slade.

The firm’s Insolvency and Corporate Recovery department was ranked as Tier 4 in the North West, with Mark Davies, Head of the Restructuring and Insolvency team highlighted alongside Partner Chris Mitchell, Vicky Burgess and Matthew Martin. Recently appointed Corporate Insolvency Partner, Katy Seago, also made this year’s list. Jan Chillery, Personal Insolvency Partner was also delighted to receive a mention.

And in the Banking and Finance category, Aaron and Partners kept its West Midlands Tier 4 status with recognition for Hugh Strickland, Zoe Lloyd and Real Estate Partner Hannah Fynn.