National law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has been recognised as a Top Tier firm in the latest Legal 500 guide which ranks the UK’s top lawyers and organisations.

Clarke Willmott received prestigious Top Tier rankings for nine of its specialist practice areas, up one from last year’s results. Top Tier areas for the firm are Intellectual Property; Corporate Tax; Crime, Fraud and Licensing; Commercial Litigation; Debt Recovery; Employment; Personal Injury; Professional Negligence and Family.

The firm’s South West offering did particularly well with the Bristol and Taunton offices named as Top Tier in seven practice areas: Commercial Litigation, Crime, Debt Recovery, Employment, Family, Professional Negligence and Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury.

The regional offices have also been recommended in 19 further specialist practice areas including Commercial Property, Planning, Banking and Finance and Agriculture and Estates.

Additionally, Neil Baker has been named for his planning work in the elite ‘Hall of Fame’ category, which highlights individuals who have received constant praise from their clients for continued excellence.

Clarke Willmott’s South West lawyers received 11 mentions in the prestigious ‘Leading Lawyers’ list, the Legal 500’s guide to outstanding lawyers. Alex Jakubowski (for two practice areas), Tim Hayden, Philip Roberts, Gareth Schofield, Esther Woolford, William Juckes, Zoe Stollard, Philip Brown, Neil Baker and Tim Copplestone were all highlighted.

In total 98 recommendations were made for Bristol and Taunton lawyers.

Stephen Rosser, Clarke Willmott’s CEO, said: “We are delighted with our numerous rankings in the Legal 500 again this year both for our specialist practice areas and for individual lawyers.

“I was pleased to see some improved entries including a Top Tier ranking for our South West Crime team, which only appeared on the list last year.

"Particular congratulations to Neil Baker for his incredibly impressive ‘Hall of Fame’ status.

“The Legal 500 is among the most prestigious industry guides and rankings are partly based on client feedback which is a great indication of the quality of our work and the services we provide.

“The recognition reflects the time we invest in developing relationships with our clients, our high level of service and our straightforward approach.”

The Legal 500 series is widely acknowledged as the world’s largest legal referral guide. It is an independent guide and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit.

Clarke Willmott LLP is a national law firm with seven offices across the country including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.