The Legal 500

Within Employment: employee/union firms, Leigh Day & Co is a second tier firm,

The ‘excellent’ team at Leigh Day & Co is ‘at the cutting edge of equality law’. Camilla Palmer – ‘probably the leading discrimination solicitor in the country’ – achieved victory for Miriam O’Reilly against the BBC. Chris Benson is ‘an outstanding lawyer, combining enthusiasm, innovation, energy and humour’, with expertise in discrimination issues including multi-claimant equal pay claims such as the ground-breaking Abdulla v Birmingham City Council.

Within Overview,

One area which has continued to show a high level of activity is litigation, in both the High Court and the employment tribunals. The number of trials relating to team moves, restrictive covenants, bonus schemes, and all kinds of discrimination has increased, with employees striving to maintain scarce jobs, and employers taking action to stem the flood of claims. Firms such as Linklaters LLP; McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP; Herbert Smith LLP; Farrer & Co; Fox Williams LLP and Simmons & Simmons have been at the forefront for finance houses and executives, and have witnessed the development of a new thread of litigation – data breaches and privacy issues in defections to competitors. Discrimination in all its forms has also been in the spotlight, with notable cases being fought by Leigh Day & Co; Bindmans LLP; and Russell Jones & Walker.

Within Clinical negligence: claimant, Leigh Day & Co is a first tier firm,

Russell Levy heads Leigh Day & Co’s practice, which is widely viewed as a market leader, thanks to its ‘very large team of experienced lawyers’ including 12 partners. The firm’s strong focus on healthcare is a boon, and within clinical negligence, the team’s areas of expertise include obstetrics and gynaecology, cancers, cerebral palsy, infections and inquests. Henry Dyson is renowned for cardiac, vascular surgery and orthopaedic cases. Other recommended partners are Anne Winyard, Claire Fazan, Olive Lewin, Sally Jean Nicholes, Sarah Campbell, Nicola Wainwright, Suzanne White, Frances Swaine, Alison Millar and Sean Humber. John Grace QC recently retired.

Within Personal injury: claimant, Leigh Day & Co is a first tier firm,

Leigh Day & Co’s five-partner personal injury department is often at the forefront of group litigation, and has vast experience in bringing claims for UK and foreign nationals injured by multinational corporations and public authorities. Work in 2010 included acting in a £4.2m claim for a client who suffered brain injuries in a road traffic accident in Croatia, and reaching a settlement with the Ministry of Defence regarding claims by the families of five RAF servicemen who died in Iraq in 2005. Joint department heads Sally Moore and Martyn Day are prominent market figures. Also recommended are Daniel Easton, a renowned asbestos litigator; Sapna Malik, who focuses on serious human rights abuses; Bozena Michalowska Howells; and Richard Meeran.

Within Personal injury: defendant Leading individuals

Within Product liability: claimant, Leigh Day & Co is a first tier firm,

Leigh Day & Co has a strong reputation for defective product claims, including cases involving medical devices, drugs and prostheses, while past successes include groundbreaking cases relating to tobacco and contraceptive pills. The firm is representing over 250 claimants who have undergone early revision procedures following DePuy ASR hip implants. It is also representing two groups of Parkinson’s disease sufferers who allege that they developed pathological gambling habits after being prescribed the drugs Cabaser and ReQuip. Practice head Martyn Day, Bozena Michalowska Howells and Gene Matthews are recommended.

Within Administrative and public law, Leigh Day & Co is a first tier firm,

Claimant firm Leigh Day & Co has expertise spanning immigration, planning, unlawful detention and healthcare. ‘At the top of his profession’, Richard Stein leads the ‘impressive team’, which also features Jamie Beagent and Frances Swaine, who regularly acts in claims against the CPS. Alison Millar is a leading figure for education matters, while Sean Humber has prison law expertise. Solicitor Rosa Curling is highly rated for her work on healthcare cases.

Within Civil liberties and human rights, Leigh Day & Co is a second tier firm,

At Leigh Day & Co, Frances Swaine is representing a team of independent doctors in their application to re-open the inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly. Prison law specialist Sean Humber is advising over 550 prisoners in their applications to the ECHR regarding prisoner voting rights. Richard Stein is recommended, and Alison Millar is singled out for education and health cases. Solicitor Rosa Curling ‘takes care and attention to consider each point of law’.

Within Education: individuals, Leigh Day & Co is a second tier firm,

Richard Stein’s team at Leigh Day & Co specialises in bringing judicial review cases on behalf of individuals and non-governmental organisations affected by local authority decisions and changes. The team has recently advised on free schools, academies, and admission and exclusion matters.

Within Healthcare, Leigh Day & Co is a third tier firm,

Leigh Day & Co’s ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘outstanding’ practice represents individuals and community groups in a broad spectrum of complex cases. It represented 97 families in the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry, and advised national and local groups and individuals on proposed changes to NHS services. Richard Stein and Rosa Curling are ‘innovative, creative and impressive solicitors’, and practice head Frances Swaine and Alison Millar are ‘completely committed to their clients and leave no stone unturned’.

Within Overview,

In the public law arena, claimant and commercial firms are ranked together in one table. City firms Herbert Smith LLP, Hogan Lovells International LLP and Baker & McKenzie LLP all have standout practices, while Beachcroft, Bindmans LLP and Leigh Day & Co remain leaders on the claimant side. Bindmans LLP also has a market-leading human rights and civil liberties practice, with other firms such as Irwin Mitchell LLP, Bhatt Murphy Solicitors and Pierce Glynn Solicitors singled out for particular expertise in niche areas, including mental health and prison law cases.

Within Environment, Leigh Day & Co is a third tier firm,

‘In a league of its own’ as a claimant firm, Leigh Day & Co has a ‘strong commitment to social issues and justice’, underpinned by the team’s strong technical and scientific expertise. Martyn Day is representing Colombian farmers in an environmental damage claim against BP. Richard Stein is ‘innovative, creative and intelligent – a veteran of judicial review with an enduring passion to push the boundaries of the law’. He and the ‘efficient, intelligent, personable’ Rosa Curling successfully represented the WWF and The Angling Trust in their joint challenge against DEFRA’s water management plans. Sean Humber, whose ‘determination is matched by his great ability and knowledge’, has been acting in various water pollution cases.