The Legal 500

North West: Corporate and commercial

Corporate and commercial: elsewhere in the North West

Corporate and commercial: elsewhere in the North West - ranked: tier 1

Myerson Solicitors LLP

The ‘top-quality’ department at Myerson Solicitors LLP is regularly instructed by owner-managed businesses across the technology, professional services, manufacturing, media, franchising and charity sectors on transactions, and often advises banks, venture capital institutions, and plcs. Recent work includes advising Evans Textiles on its acquisition of Bedmaker Textiles, and acting for CCP Building Products on the acquisition of a quarry in Flintshire. Corporate finance specialist M Akeel Latif heads the practice, which includes Andrew Brown, who routinely handles M&A, equity investments and restructuring matters; Scott Sands, who handles transactions across the technology, charity and professional services sectors; and Carla Murray, who is experienced across IT, IP and commercial matters. Recently promoted senior solicitor Philip Ball is also noted, as is managing partner Carl Newton.

Leading individuals

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North West: Dispute resolution

Banking litigation

Banking litigation - ranked: tier 5

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Myerson Solicitors LLP acts for individuals, owner-managed businesses and SMEs on a variety of banking litigation matters. The team advised for CGL Group in a £6m Court of Appeal and Supreme Court care regarding the mis-selling of two interest rate hedging products (against the RBS and NatWest. Department head Jonathan Hassall ‘understands clients’ needs very well’ and is an ‘experienced and determined litigator’. Senior solicitor Vicky Biggs is ‘diligent, reliable and committed to an impressive degree’.

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Commercial litigation: elsewhere in the North West

Commercial litigation: elsewhere in the North West - ranked: tier 1

Myerson Solicitors LLP

The ‘dynamic, positive, forward-thinking, effective and tenacious’ team at Myerson Solicitors LLP gives ‘sound and sensible legal advice’ and is ‘very client-friendly’. It handles general commercial litigation including shareholder disputes and professional negligence, in addition to contentious trusts and probate, IP, banking and property litigation and commercial agency matters. The team is representing CGL Group in a £6m professional negligence claim against a solicitor relating to the mis-selling of interest rate swap agreements. Team head Adam Maher is an ‘excellent communicator and an outstanding team leader; he harnesses the best from his team’. Also recommended are the ‘very experienced’ Tim Norman, who is a ‘very clear thinker’ and advises on commercial and property cases; and the ‘proactive’ Jonathan Hassall, who specialises in IP, financial and regulatory disputes. Helen Thompson leads on contentious trusts and probate work and is ably supported by senior solicitor John Lambe, who joined from Hillyer McKeown in 2017.  Property litigator Seán Hackett joined the team in 2018 from Pannone Corporate LLP, as did Suzanne Carr.

Leading individuals

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North West: Human resources

Employment

Employment - ranked: tier 2

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Myerson Solicitors LLP's ‘reliable and highly professional’ team is headed by the ‘extremely thorough and diligent Joanne Evans , whose 'great communication ensures that all parties are comfortable with the likely outcomes’. The 'excellent' Joanne Henderson  and ‘very knowledgeable’ senior solicitor Charlotte Gilbert  are also recommended, as are solicitor David Jones  and Helen Littlewood, who was promoted to senior solicitor. Clients include Eastern Airways, Humberside International Airport, TATA Chemicals and the Royal Exchange Theatre.

Leading individuals

Next generation lawyers

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North West: Private client

Agriculture and estates

Agriculture and estates - ranked: tier 1

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Amanda Freeman   heads a ‘very amenable, knowledgeable, sensible and well-informed’ team at Myerson Solicitors LLP  that ‘overall provides a very high level of service’. Freeman has many years of experience of dealing with a wide range of private client matters for its rural clients with particular expertise in acting for high-net-worth individuals. The ‘very experienced’ Andrew Chapman  is ‘always available and is very quick at getting his head around complex problems. He then produces good solutions and is also very nice to deal with’. Chapman routinely advises rural landowners and farmers on a myriad of property issues including on the development of land for residential development and on diversification issues. He also frequently advises on the granting of option agreements, on the sale and purchase of land and on the granting of easements over land. The ‘knowledgeable and approachable’  Jane Tenquist has significant experience of dealing with divorces that involve farms, agricultural land, trusts and businesses and Andrew Brown  regularly advises on partnerships, LLPs, shareholder agreements and group reorganisations for its rural clients.

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Contentious trusts and probate

Contentious trusts and probate - ranked: tier 2

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Myerson Solicitors LLP   is an ‘expanding firm with an increasing presence in this area’. It is one to watch. The team undertakes a large number of Inheritance Act cases together with complex trusts and private client litigation. Head of team Helen Thompson  ‘puts clients at ease and is bang up to date with the law’. The ‘experienced’ Adam Maher  'guides his clients through a notoriously difficult and technical area of law with skill. He has a knack of explaining difficult concepts in a way that clients find easy to follow’. Thompson has undertaken numerous contentious Court of Protection matters and along with senior solicitor John Lambe regularly advises on proprietary estoppel claims. The team has been retained on 150 active and complex contentious probate cases.

Leading individuals

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Family

Family - ranked: tier 2

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Myerson Solicitors LLP  has a ‘strong team’ that frequently works with affluent people in the Cheshire belt and is well-equipped to handle complex multi-jurisdictional issues. The family team provides ‘first-class advice that it delivers with empathy and care’. Jane Tenquist  heads the department with ‘confidence and flair’ and is ‘very skilled at high-value financial remedy work. She really fights her client’s corner’. Senior solicitor Nichola Bright  is ‘always very well prepared and has a good attention to detail whilst not losing sight of the bigger picture. She gives robust advice but always maintains good relationships with her clients’.

Leading individuals

Next generation lawyers

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Personal tax, trusts and probate

Personal tax, trusts and probate - ranked: tier 2

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Myerson Solicitors LLP   has a ‘professional and client-focused’ team. Head of department Amanda Freeman has ‘experience that is second to none and she provides a very good and no-nonsense service at a fair price’. The ‘very professional, kind and supportive’ Bik-ki Irving  has ‘fantastic knowledge of her field which she always communicated to me very efficiently’. The ‘very personable and practical’ Clara Staunton  is ‘able to prioritise things well and is prompt at responding’. The ‘exceptionally professional, solution focused and realistic’ team has three STEP qualified lawyers. It advises on a wide spectrum of issues to high-net-worth individuals and families such as inheritance tax mitigation and on complex family structures, trusts and estates.

Next generation lawyers

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North West: Real estate

Commercial property: elsewhere in the North West

Commercial property: elsewhere in the North West - ranked: tier 1

Myerson Solicitors LLP

The ‘very professional’ team at Myerson Solicitors LLP is ‘exceptional’ across development matters and property management mandates for a range of private property companies and investor clients. Jeremy Lee advised Fortis Developments on the acquisition and development agreements for several sites including Furness Quay in Salford Quays, Bridgewater Point, Bridgewater Gate, Bridgewater Wharf and Adelphi Wharf in Salford. Andrew Chapman, who is ‘hugely knowledgeable and practical; and even when working with experienced developers he can still bring a new angle to a deal, coming up with solutions that are helpful, timely and full of business acumen’, advised Mosley Street Ventures on the leasing of the remaining floors and ground floor commercial units of 2 St Peter’s Square, Manchester. Mark Gillies is ‘diligent and timely’ and advised Cheshire Concrete Products Group on the acquisition of a quarry business in North Wales. Deputy department head Joanne Perritt’s ‘thorough knowledge and experience shines through’, and department head Richard Lloyd is ‘brilliant’.

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Property litigation

Property litigation - ranked: tier 5

Myerson Solicitors LLP

The ‘timely and experienced’ team at Myerson Solicitors LLP advises property owners, landlords and tenants on a range of commercial and residential property disputes such as dilapidations, forfeiture of leases and relief from forfeiture, rights of way, Land Registry issues, service charge issues negligence issues and property covenants. Philip J Davies (Holdings), Taskers and Fortis Developments are clients. Tim Norman heads the team, which features Jeremy Lee and senior solicitor Laura Pile, and was recently bolstered by the arrival of senior solicitors Seàn Hackett and Suzanne Carr from Pannone Corporate LLP.

Next generation lawyers

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North West: TMT (technology, media and telecoms)

IT and telecoms

IT and telecoms - ranked: tier 4

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Carla Murray   at Myerson Solicitors LLP  is ‘very adept at identifying the crux of the issue and then provides clear and concise plans on how to get a solution’. Philip Ball  was promoted to senior solicitor. The team continues to advise a diverse range of clients from individuals to owner managed businesses, SME’s and public limited companies on a variety of IT matters including outsourcing contracts as well as software development and licensing agreements ( such as cloud computing). The team has gained substantial experience in FinTech and RegTech matters. Major clients include CDL Production Services, Customs Connect and Atlantic Commerce Solutions.

Next generation lawyers

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Intellectual property

Intellectual property - ranked: tier 3

Myerson Solicitors LLP

Myerson Solicitors LLP ‘has a really strong IP team, which is growing’. Jonathan Hassall leads on contentious matters with ‘a lot of experience of litigating unregistered IP rights; he has a very strategic mind and is extremely thorough’. Hassall routinely advises on a broad range of disputes relating to trade marks, copyright, patents, confidential information and data protection. He is also skilled at advising on design rights and reputation management issues and is regularly instructed by clients from the arts, media, textile and clothing sectors in the UK and internationally. He is ‘attracting work from a broad range of clients’. Carla Murray  leads on non-contentious IP matters. Scott Sands  has a ‘good tactical awareness which is invaluable when considering commercial strategy’. The team is representing International Pastry Concepts LLC (a New York based pastry house which invented the CRONUTS products that are sold worldwide) on various matters such as enforcing the client’s international trade mark. The ‘excellent’ Vicky Biggs  is now a senior solicitor in the team.

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