We are delighted to announce another excellent set of results in the newly released Legal500 rankings. The firm has six practice areas highly ranked. Both Family and Commercial Property remain in the top tier.

In addition, both Tony Fisher (Corporate and Commercial) and Simon Osborn (Family) are ranked as ‘Leading Individuals’. An additional eight lawyers are mentioned this year as ‘Next Generation Lawyers’ showing the firm’s commitment to encouraging new talent within the legal profession.

All of the FJG practice area rankings for 2018-19 are detailed below:

  • The ‘very knowledgeable and responsive‘ commercial property team of ‘customer-focused firm‘ Fisher Jones Greenwood are ranked Tier 1 and noted as ‘one of the top commercial property practices in Colchester‘. They are described as ‘providing an excellent professional service‘ and ‘retains its ownership of customers‘, being best known for its transactional, promotion and option agreements, refinancing, planning, development and leasing expertise covering the healthcare, farming, investment and finance sectors, as well as ports, freight forwarding and haulage. The practice has strong relationships with Royal Bank of Scotland, Svenska Handelsbanken and the Royal Association for Deaf people, while Barclays Bank and NatWest Business Centre were recently added to the client portfolio. ‘Trustworthy‘ department lead Ellen Petersen and ‘professional‘ leasehold expert Louise Smith are recommended, while Chelmsford-based partner Chris Jones, and transaction-focused solicitor Leon Pascal are other names to note. Planning consultant Sharon Smith assists with site appraisals and planning applications in a non-legal capacity.  Leon Pascal and Louise Smith are ranked as ‘Next Generation Lawyers’.
  • The ‘thorough and quick-to-respond‘ corporate practice of Fisher Jones Greenwood provides ‘good value for money‘ and focuses on M&A transactions, agreements and restructurings in the charity, education, technology and healthcare sectors. The ‘friendly-yet-professional‘ Ashton Carter is recommended. Together with practice lead Tony Fisher, he advised Point Zero Solutions on the acquisition of a competing company and an internal restructuring, and also represented technical solutions provider Adsar during its £480,000 partial sale. Leah Groves specialises in dental M&A work.
    • Tony Fisher is ranked as a ‘Leading Individual’, the department is strengthened by Ashton Carter and Leah Groves who are both ranked as ‘Next Generation Lawyers’.
  • The commercial litigation practice at Fisher Jones Greenwood is ranked Tier 2, consisting of four key Solicitors who resolve contractual, professional negligence, regulatory and shareholder disputes. The team serves a number of industries, such as the banking and construction sectors. Kevin Booroff ‘s main focus areas are civil and family law litigation. Lawrence Adams is responsible for tenancy and other types of property litigation. Another niche area of expertise is sports litigation, which is primarily covered by Solicitor, Jason Torrance.  In addition, the team has been further strengthened by the addition of Bushra Elzubeir who has joined from Pinney Talfoud LLP and is ranked as a ‘Next Generation Lawyer’.
  • Fisher Jones Greenwood’s family practice is ranked Tier 1, the team uses collaborative law, arbitration and mediation as dispute resolution techniques, and engages in divorce, financial remedy, private and public law children, domestic abuse, international child abduction and cohabitation matters. Arbitrator and team lead Simon Osborn is ranked as a ‘Leading Individual’ and Resolution specialist Charlotte Knappett, plus public law children expert Rachel Earnshaw are the key members. Rachel is ranked as ‘Next Generation lawyer’.
  • The ‘excellent‘ private client department has been ranked Tier 3, they are described is ‘one of the most innovative in the Colchester area‘ and provide ‘an extremely good service‘. It specialises in representing elderly and vulnerable clients who need support with social services and their home and care needs, while also covering the traditional Will, lasting powers of attorney, Court of Protection and long-term care planning advice. The ‘extremely competent‘ department lead Susanne Grimwade, who ‘has a firm grasp of her matters and is quick to respond‘, is recommended. In 2017, she dealt with the administration of the estate, worth over £1m, of a mother who had died young and left two small children; the case involved property repossession proceedings, liquidation of assets and effecting the communication between the trustees and the children’s estranged father. Associate Amy Burton and newly appointed Partner Andrea Godfrey are ranked as a ‘Next Generation Lawyers’. Sarah Rankin who became an associate in April 2018.
  • Fisher Jones Greenwood‘s immigration practice is ranked Tier 2, it attracts praise for its ‘professionalism and experience‘, with newly promoted partner and practice head Ashlee Campbell considered ‘a pioneer in this area‘ and ranked a ‘Next Generation Lawyer’. The firm’s track record in this area covers immigration cases under the Legal Aid Scheme; its close relationships with social service departments in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Thurrock as well as charitable organisations such as The Red Cross ensuring a steady stream of Legal Aid work. The practice also handles applications across all tiers of the points-based system and entrepreneur applications.

Paula Fowler, Managing Partner at Fisher Jones Greenwood, commented on the rankings. “I am delighted to see the latest set of rankings from Legal500 in recognition of the hard work from everyone at FJG. They are a reflection of our growing number of experts we have within FJG. As an innovative and forward-thinking law firm we aim to maintain and improve on these rankings going forward.