Harrowells Solicitors

With over 130 staff, Harrowells has a significant presence in Yorkshire’s highly competitive legal market; its lawyers are recognised as specialists at a national level in a number of practice areas.

The firm: Harrowells was founded in 1908, with some of the firms absorbed by the main practice founded in the 18th and 19th centuries. The firm has a network of six offices located in the city of York and in key market towns across North and East Yorkshire and, unsurprisingly, has a long tradition of offering advice on many aspects of private client and agricultural law.

Unusually, compared with many equivalent practices, there has also been a strong focus on litigation. This explains the development of specialist commercial litigation, clinical negligence and personal injury claimant teams that punch well above their weight (given the overall size of the practice) and which attract clients from beyond the firm’s Yorkshire heartland.

The firm’s corporate, commercial and commercial property practice areas have steadily expanded – serving both local owner-managed businesses and larger corporates often based further afield.

Harrowells has a clear sense of direction in developing the practice over time. It strategically withdrew from legal aid over ten years ago and has evolved into a major regional law firm through a mixture of organic growth and, more recently, absorption of successful rural practices (Hileys in 2011 and Powell & Young in 2013). It is currently developing its work in the complex private client, agricultural law and horseracing law practice areas.

The firm is known for never cutting corners in terms of standards of service and provides good grounding and mentoring for trainees, recently qualified solicitors and other legal staff. An early adopter of flexible working practices and, with an interest in hiring via non-traditional as well as traditional career routes, Harrowells has a successful track record in developing those moving into the law mid-career and those seeking a co-operative working culture that is open to new ideas.

Types of work undertaken: Harrowells offers contentious and non-contentious services for individuals and families, primarily across North and East Yorkshire. These cover family law, civil litigation, personal injury and medical negligence claims, private client advice and residential conveyancing. The firm is active in developing services where legal advice links into wider care and health issues.

The firm also has specialist teams in the company commercial, commercial property, agricultural and equine law, employment and commercial litigation practice areas. In addition to serving the needs of owner-managed businesses in North and East Yorkshire, advice for larger and specialist corporates is also offered on a nationwide basis, especially in relation to commercial litigation. The firm is attracting increasingly significant instructions from clients that large metropolitan firms would hope to secure.

Harrowells also offers specialist advice on complex and high-value clinical negligence and catastrophic injury claims on a nationwide basis. This is dealt with by its separately branded CNCI team, which has recent and substantial experience in this practice area.

Harrowells is accredited by Lexcel, The Legal 500 and the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS). Its lawyers are also individually accredited by a number of specialist bodies, including Resolution, the Law Society Panel of Experts in Personal Injury, the Law Society Panel of Experts in Clinical Negligence, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Solicitors for the Elderly, Professional Negligence Lawyers’ Association, Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Solicitors and the Equine and Animal Law Association.