The Legal 500 > United Kingdom - Solicitors > South East > Insolvency and corporate recovery

‘The insolvency team have a network of overseas associates who they can call upon when there are insolvencies with assets in different jurisdictions. Very practical and willing to continue to work on a case even with uncertain assets, continuing to give it their full attention.’

‘Oliver Fitzpatrick is very practical and progresses matters without the need to be chased.’

‘Ollie Fitzpatrick has an eye for detail and practical advice.’

‘A regional firm offering top quality service and advice.’

‘BDB Pitmans is extremely well respected in the insolvency and corporate recovery sector. In litigation, they often come up against much bigger firms, demonstrating how good they are and the confidence that their clients have in them. The team is technically excellent but importantly, they’re also really nice people. It’s a winning combination as far as clients are concerned.’

‘Stacey Jones is fantastic. She is a first rate lawyer but she’s also absolutely great company. Clients absolutely love her. You would always want Stacey on your side; she fights tooth and nail for her clients. Tim Evans, while still junior, is one to watch for the future. He is technically excellent and great with clients.’

‘Suzanne Brooker and her team took a calm and pragmatic approach their engagement. At all times they displayed great competence and a work rate second-to-none. They were a pleasure to work with during what were trying circumstances. I couldn’t have had anyone better in my corner. Suzanne Brooker was the lead partner on the project. She was supportive, calming and reassuring throughout, with a degree of competence that I have found hard to match elsewhere.’

‘Suzanne Brooker has an excellent understanding of the law providing commercial answers to difficult situations.’

‘The team comprises a set of individuals who combine to give a service which is efficient and practical and given in a timely way. The team compares well to other firms.’

‘The individuals in the BDB Pitmans team that I work with are very committed to finding a practical way through the inevitable problems that occur – and their skill is such that they always do succeed in this regard. Partner Stacey Jones is in particular very tenacious and she is very effective at progressing matters in a practical and sensible manner.’

‘Led by the outstanding Suzanne Brooker who as well as being a very capable lawyer is a trusted adviser to her clients. City quality lawyers at a more attractive level of cost. Occupying the middle ground of the market but comfortably competing with the very best in the market.’

‘Suzanne Brooker is an accomplished lawyer and brings strategic analysis to cases that her competitors simply cannot apply.’

‘Knowledgeable, pragmatic, work with you to provide the solution. Capable and straightforward to deal with. Will always give the best advice.’

‘Most of my work is with the team in Guildford and they easily rival many London firms.’

‘I have worked with numerous individuals in the insolvency teams at CRS in the last year. Dan Moore is an up-and-coming senior associate with good quality work. I would particularly note his good judgement and case management skills.’

‘A top-drawer regional firm which offers strength and depth to rival many London firms. Its commercial litigation department is particularly strong.’

‘Joanna Ford is a calm and commercially minded solicitor who exercises excellent judgement in navigating complex litigation. She is a pleasure to work with.’

‘Hannah Proctor is a very bright and incredibly capable associate who operates at a level well beyond her years. She is incredibly hard working, and goes the extra mile for the client.’

‘Good technical knowledge.’

‘Heather Dobson really knows her area and deploys her knowledge very effectively; she is extremely hard-working, has sound judgement, is very pleasant to work with, and has a good, collaborative approach.’

‘Rebecca Chaplin also has a really good knowledge of the technical detail of the subject, and is also very hardworking, friendly and pleasant to work with.’

‘Very approachable and easy to work with, great professional attitude.’

‘Heather Dobson – great professional, friendly and approachable; willing to go the extra mile.’

‘Rebecca Chaplin – exceptional client service, easy to get hold of and quick to respond.’

‘Moore Barlow is an approachable and skilled firm that has expertise in all areas. They make clients feel valued and confident that they are receiving exceptional advice and service.’

‘Heather Dobson’s knowledge and experience is second to none. I like to think of Heather as part of my wider team and the go to person for all insolvency related matters.’

‘Excellent knowledgeable team of restructuring and insolvency experts based in Guildford. Easy to approach and very good to work with.’

‘Tim Carter is very approachable and knowledgeable in his field. Tim is an excellent commercial solicitor who provides practical advice in a timely manner. Highly recommend.’

‘David Steinberg is an extremely capable, experienced partner who is well known and respected within the industry he services. He provides concise, accurate and reliable advice in strict timeframes. Very personable. A great asset for Stevens & Bolton.’

‘Experienced, price competitive and still retain a personal touch.’

‘David Steinberg is very knowledgeable, practical and easy to work with.’

‘A large regional firm, with experts in each office. Capable of dealing with both small and larger matters.’

‘Very thorough and prepared, and know the legal merits. Matt Weston doesn’t go looking for the spotlight, but is a fantastic lawyer.’

‘A coordinated national practice that works well across the country with areas of specialism. Strong, experienced team that can deal with all types of assignments.’

‘Andrew Walker leads a very engaged and proactive team who have been extremely supportive of our business and have an excellent understanding of the market and its dynamics.’

‘Andrew Walker is very commercial and has been willing to provide significant support with security reviews, in the knowledge that costs are unlikely to be covered but realising that this is the way to build a network and advocates. A strong tactician and astute negotiator. He is also proactive in bringing new developments to our attention.’

‘Excellent depth of resource. Pragmatic approach.’

‘Andrew Walker stands out as he is always helpful and knowledgeable. Irrespective of the size of business or experience of individuals, Andrew has a knack of being able to speak to them all on their level. ‘

‘Nick Oliver is an excellent litigation lawyer with a very good brain and a very good tactical instinct. He is aggressive but not overly so and has fine attention to detail. His drafting is excellent. If I had my own insolvency litigation issue he would be at or near the top of lawyers I want to represent me.

‘Sarah Phillips is more junior but she is very conscientious, thorough and enthusiastic. Like Nick she is robust and fights hard in the interests of her clients.’

‘The team led by Nick Oliver was very dynamic and efficient with our case. It felt as a client that they were really prioritising our work and made us feel heard and were very dynamic to situations changing.’

‘Nick Oliver was a very calm individual and had no ego. He was extremely open to new ideas and did not mind entertaining our ideas as some of them ended up becoming pivotal in our case. I have seen other solicitors stifle clients’ creative solutions and needs, to protect their ego/right to charge fees. Nick and the team at Isadore Goldman had no ego and were committed to getting the result by any means.’

‘Isadore Goldman has an extremely strong national reputation in insolvency and corporate recovery. Indeed, it is one of the very few remaining specialist players in the area. The recent addition of a south coast team (led by Nick Oliver and the former Verisona team) adds to the firm’s expertise. The south coast team act for insolvency practitioners and defendants across the whole of the south of England and have bags of experience in high-profile insolvency liquidation. They combine real insolvency expertise with excellent regional connections and the support of a large, specialist insolvency firm.’

‘All the team members are knowledgeable, passionate and focused on delivering the right outcomes to clients. The team is led by Nick Oliver, who is a specialist insolvency lawyer and well-known in the field. Nick has a deep technical understanding of insolvency law and combines that with a pragmatic approach to litigation, with a focus on getting to the right result as efficiently and effectively as possible.’

‘Very good technical knowledge. Work is turned around in short order. Large number of disciplines within the practice so able to call upon these, for example dealing with complex GDPR issues following the insolvency of a medical professional.’

‘Melia Hirst has very good technical knowledge.’

‘Nick Keitley is commercial.’

‘The team are particularly good at dealing with the more unusual aspects of insolvency law.’

‘Melia Hirst deserves particular mention. Not only is she on top of all aspects of the case, she is also a very pleasant person to work with.’

‘I would describe the team as knowledgeable, professional in their conduct, always providing insight and support both on technical and practical levels, willing to share ideas and solutions on complex and/or challenging issues. Whilst these strengths are not necessarily unique, as a package, I find them unrivalled in my geographical location.’

‘Nick Keitley is passionate about delivering first class guidance and support. Nick’s experience is evident throughout my dealings on various different case instructions. Melia Hirst shares Nick’s passion for delivering class leading advice and support, she too is regarded by me as a go to person if I need legal advice on case assignments.’

‘Nick Keitley is very good at explaining issues simply and takes a relaxed approach. Melia Hirst is easy to get on with.’

‘Nick Keitley knows his area extremely well, is very thoughtful, and has a sensible commercial approach.’

‘Rebecca Walker is an excellent technical solicitor, very responsive and knowledgeable. Excellent understanding of insolvency and restructuring and a go-to lawyer for technical queries.’

‘The team has a strong work ethic and are genuinely client-focused. They are highly responsive and provide value for money.’

‘The team is ably led by the very personable Mike Pavitt who is both a highly skilled lawyer and commercial in his approach. He sets the standard and his team follows.’

‘Insightful, detailed and practical advice delivered in a timely manner. Paris Smith are one of the leaders in this field.’

‘Mike Pavitt will provide detailed advice yet deliver the message in a practical manner that give confidence to any course of action.’

‘City of London expertise with regional prices and approachability, led by the very diligent and knowledgeable partner Kevin Sullivan.’

‘Kevin Sullivan is an incredibly diligent and savvy partner heading up the insolvency department. Able to see the argument from all sides, he gives sound commercial advice.’

‘We work with other law firms too, but I would rank Birkett Long the highest.’

‘We work with Kevin Sullivan and Tracy England on insolvency work mainly – very prompt response time & efficient. Good clear advice.’

‘My experience was very satisfactory. The partner I spoke with gave an initial consultation but did not push me for further involvement as felt I did not require further advice at that time. When a situation escalated the partner made himself immediately available and worked into the evening on a time-sensitive matter.’

‘Blake Morgan have been friendly and responsive, and are adequately resourced to provide a good level of service. They are receptive to feedback and have a positive attitude to suggested amendments to draft documents and correspondence.’

‘This team has built up from a standing start and now has a wide variety of high quality insolvency clients. This team gives a lot of responsibility to the more junior members of the team but the outcome of this is that the junior solicitors quickly learn the job and become very accomplished at an early stage.’

‘Katie James heads up the team. Katie is the reason for the success of the insolvency team at Blake Morgan’s Reading office. She remains very engaged in the day to day matters despite having the responsibility of heading up the team and bringing work in. Katie is an outstanding lawyer, she’s very intelligent and not afraid to take bold and difficult decisions. At the same time Katie has a great manner with clients which means she has a very successful practice (evidenced by the way she has built this team). I have spoken at webinars with Katie and she presented in an excellent manner. I should also mention that Katie values diverse routes into the profession and works hard to promote these routes; for example, Blake Morgan are now taking apprenticeships.’

‘They provide clarity of advice, commerciality, speed of response, and friendliness.’

‘We valued their breadth of experience, honesty, commercial approach, availability (when it suits us) and tenacity. Katie James has all of these qualities and leads a growing team that demonstrate the same. Put simply, they are invaluable as a panel firm for us.’

‘Dentons have a strong insolvency and corporate recovery team. Any team with Andrea Dunsby in it is a good team.’

‘Andrea Dunsby is the standout performer for me. She is as good as any solicitor I have worked with in this area. Really excellent legal knowledge, including of Cayman and other Caribbean procedural and substantive law. Great client handling skills – keeping calm and managing even the most difficult of clients. I would entrust her with my litigation!’

‘Andrea Dunsby is a first class insolvency lawyer.’

‘Downs are an outstanding regional firm with extremely good knowledge of this area of practice. They are also a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend them.’

‘Chris Millar has particularly strong insolvency and general commercial experience. He is an extremely impressive and experienced litigator.’

‘Excellent client service. Standout lawyers are Nigel Cook for transaction work and Martin Steer for litigation.’

‘With Chris Millar leading the Insolvency and Corporate Recovery team, Downs provide effective technical advice in a very efficient and timely way.  They provide pragmatic views on the way forward rather than just giving you a range of options without any real direction. Downs have had the confidence to give me advice in difficult areas and have never failed to support me 100%.’

‘Martin is an experienced litigator who seems to attract an enviable range of insolvency-related work. Typical of his team, his knowledge extends to commercial and property litigation so he is able to spot points that some insolvency specialists might miss. He is good on the law, hard-working, and excellent at presenting the bigger tactical picture to the lay client in a digestible way. He is also good fun to work with.’

‘All of the individuals I have encountered at Downs Solicitors have been very professional, technically excellent but importantly they are able to deliver advice which cuts to the heart of often complex issues in a sensitive and easy to jargon free manner. In particular, I have enjoyed working with Charmaine Dudman who has shown a great attention to detail and excellent technical knowledge.’

‘Martin Steer has always provided updates as required, without the need for chasing at any point. He has also provided advice when required, explaining matters in a clear and concise way.’

‘The team members have experience not just of insolvency work but of broader commercial and property litigation. In broad terms, this means two things: that the team has access to work other than from traditional insolvency channels; and that in performing that work, the team can spot related issues in different areas of practice which might otherwise be lost on an insolvency specialist.’

‘The firm is a full service Oxfordshire law firm which acts both for regional clients and a number of international companies. This gives them a breadth of expertise which can be adapted to any given situation.’

‘I have worked with Petra Van Dijk for a number of years in both commercial litigation and insolvency matters. She has a thorough understanding of the technicalities of insolvency law, as well as the commercial realities under which most insolvency practitioners operate.’

‘Our business has a very diverse range of clients with an equally diverse range of issues. We have always found Tees Law to be able to find someone able to give sound advice from their previous experiences which in turn has given us confidence in the advice we have passed on to our clients. They are not a company which reaches for the “charge clock” as soon as initial advice is requested. There is certainly depth of knowledge within the team.’

‘Our primary contact is David Perry who we have consulted with over a number of years. We have always found him to have a wealth of knowledge in the field of insolvency and happy to give his opinion on clients issues whether the company be a major limited company or small sole trader. Although the actual case may be handled by one of his staff we have always found that he continues to maintain an interest and able to discuss the issues that may be involved. You get a straight answer to a straight question.’