Independently gathered 2024 directory feedback commends Penningtons Manches Cooper as ‘a go-to legal firm that cannot be faulted’

Posted: 26/10/2023

The 2024 legal directories have praised Penningtons Manches Cooper for its outstanding performance in a wide range of practice areas. The latest editions of The Legal 500 and Chambers UK celebrate the firm’s expertise across its key divisions, including dispute resolution, services for business, real estate law, and services for private individuals. Additionally, the firm has been ranked in The Times Best Law Firms list, an independently compiled index of the top legal practices in England and Wales. 

The directories are widely considered as the go-to sources for evaluating law firms' capabilities. Their comprehensive research methodology relies on client testimonials, input from fellow lawyers, and insights from third-party experts. The Times’ Best Law Firms list, meanwhile, is compiled by Statista, an international market research agency, which asks solicitors and barristers to recommend the best law firms in their fields. 

In The Legal 500, Penningtons Manches Cooper has been listed as a top tier firm in 13 practice areas, with recommendations in a further 54. There was notable success for the commercial dispute resolution team, which moved up to band 1 this year, being described as ‘very strong commercial litigators – they are fighters who get results’ and ‘cannot be faulted’. They join the ‘outstanding’ and ‘consistently reliable, thoughtful and efficient’ corporate team in band 1, alongside the ‘excellent’ and ‘world class’ IT and telecoms team. Also top ranked this year is the ‘dynamic, hardworking and insightful’ real estate team, and the social housing team, which moved up from band 2 – ‘I couldn’t ask to work with a better group of solicitors’. Maintaining its band 1 ranking for this year, the employment team is commended as offering ‘an exceptional level of service’ that comes from ‘a well-informed and commercially savvy viewpoint’. The ‘first-class’ and ‘incredibly talented’ family team, meanwhile, is described as having ‘gone from strength to strength’ to become ‘one of the leading family teams in the country’. Lastly, the firm’s private client team received praise for having ‘the depth and breadth of experience of a big firm but the flexibility and informality of a small one… a winning combination’, while the ‘excellent’ clinical negligence and personal injury teams round off the top tier rankings, for possessing ‘real strength in depth; they treat every case with the thoroughness and skill it deserves.’ From an individual recognition perspective, a total of 167 of the firm’s lawyers have been mentioned by name in the directory’s commentary, with 40 lawyers named as elite ‘Leading Lawyers’, and a further six included in The Legal 500’s prestigious ‘Hall of Fame’.

In Chambers UK 2024, Penningtons Manches Cooper has been listed as a band 1 firm in eight practice areas, with 40 departments ranked in total. The real estate team, once again ranked in band 1, was commended for ‘running a tight ship’ and ‘negotiating sensibly and technically well’, with the ‘meticulously prepared’ real estate litigation team also top ranked for its ‘significant depth of knowledge and experience available to deal effectively with a range of matters’. The ‘exceptionally strong’ intellectual property team was similarly ranked in band 1 – ‘an incredible team filled with experts who provide top-notch service’. There was also plenty of praise for the family team, ‘an excellent team of lawyers who are steeped in family law’ with ‘the highest level of expertise’ and ‘excellent client care’. Finally, the ‘outstanding’ clinical negligence team was commended for providing ‘clear advice at all stages’ and being ‘very knowledgeable, helpful and professional’. In total, 92 of the firm’s lawyers were ranked in Chambers UK, with 13 of them listed in the top tier, band 1. 

The newly published edition of The Times Best Law Firms list gives specific acknowledgement to Penningtons Manches Cooper's expertise in the fields of commercial dispute resolution, employment law, family law, inheritance and succession, and personal injury and clinical negligence. 

For full details of Penningtons Manches Cooper’s directory rankings, please click here for The Legal 500 and here for Chambers UK, and here for The Times Best Law Firms list 2024.

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