We are committed to providing the best service we can, along with achieving and maintaining quality standards such as Lexcel - The Law Society’s accreditation standard.
We believe that this approach is also reflected by the number of accreditations and recommendations that we regularly achieve with the UK’s leading legal directories, such as Chambers, The Legal 500 and The Lawyer UK 200.
For further information on what these accreditations, recommendations and quality standards mean, please click on the links below.
The Legal 500 is published annually and is the leading directory of law firms in the UK; with over four million users visiting The Legal 500 website each year. The directory is aimed at buyers of legal services, particularly general/corporate counsel.
The directory is written by an experienced team of legal researchers, with the research process involving hundreds of submissions from law firms across the UK. The Legal 500 team contacts clients listed in submissions for references, and researchers conduct interviews with firms as appropriate.
In the published directory, UK law firms are ranked according to location and practice area; leading individuals in each field are also listed. Every firm ranked – and every individual mentioned – in The Legal 500 UK is 'recommended'.
Practice area | Tier | Region |
---|---|---|
Agriculture Recoveries Family | 1 | East Midlands |
Commercial Property | 1 | Elsewhere in East Midlands |
Employment Regulatory & Public Law Dispute Resolution - Property Litigation | 2 | East Midlands |
Dispute Resolution - Commercial Litigation | 2 | Elsewhere in East Midlands |
Corporate & Commercial | 2 | Hull & East Yorkshire |
Family | 2 | Elsewhere in Yorkshire |
Personal Injury & Medical Negligence Contentious Trusts & Probate | 3 | East Midlands |
Corporate & Commercial | 3 | Elsewhere in East Midlands |
Insolvency & Corporate Recovery | 4 | Yorkshire & Humber |
The Chambers UK guide is published annually in October, covering 50 cities and counties in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The directory covers over 70 specialist areas of law, with the most developed practice areas, such as Corporate / M&A, Banking & Finance, Employment, Litigation and Real Estate being covered on a city-by-city basis. These cities are grouped by regions, such as South West, Midlands and Yorkshire, so clients can compare firms across a broader geographic area.
The Chambers’ ranking tables and commentary, therefore, are fixed at the date of publication for the following 12 months. However, factual information, such as mergers or lawyer-moves, is kept up-to-date on the website throughout the year.
Practice area | Band | Region |
---|---|---|
Family/Matrimonial | 1 | Lincoln & |
Agriculture & Rural Affairs | 2 | Midlands |
Real Estate | 2 | East Midlands |
Family/Matrimonial | 3 | York, Hull & |
Individual and Practice Area | Category | Region |
---|---|---|
Catherine Harris | Band 1 Solicitor | Midlands |
Lisa Boileau | Band 1 Solicitor | Lincoln & |
Lisa Boileau (Family/Matrimonial) | Spotlight | East Midlands |
Jonathan Baker | Band 2 Solicitor | Midlands |
Rachel Dicken | Band 3 Solicitor | East Midlands |
James Marsden (Family/Matrimonial) | Band 3 Solicitor | York, Hull & Surrounds |
Jonty Pearson | Up & Coming | East Midlands |
Siobahn Sylvester | Associate to Watch | Midlands |
Lucy Reding (Family/Matrimonial) | Associate to Watch | Lincoln & Surrounds |
The Lawyer UK 200 Annual Report is published by the Lawyer magazine. The yearly report is the culmination of data collection, interviews and research into the financial health of the UK's largest law firms.
In addition to the top 200 law firms, the UK 200 also includes an analysis of the UK's top 30 barristers chambers, the 30 largest international firms operating in the UK and individual analyses on each of the top 200 firms in the annual table.
Law firm | Rank |
---|---|
Wilkin Chapman LLP | 111 |
Wilkin Chapman first achieved Lexcel accreditation in 1999 and, since then, has always passed its annual assessment with flying colours.
Lexcel is the Law Society’s accreditation scheme, and is recognised as the gold-star legal quality mark. Adopted by legal firms in the UK and internationally, it's the quality mark that tells you you're in trusted, professional hands with your legal case.
Lexcel firms go through a rigorous testing and inspection process to ensure that they have the very best practice in client care, file and data management and complaints handling.
Accredited firms provide the highest standard of client care and practice management, so you can be sure you're getting the best possible service.
As a Lexcel firm, we are committed to:
protecting client confidentiality
communicating with you clearly and honestly about your case
being upfront with you about costs
keeping you informed about how your case is going
dealing with any complaints properly
If you want peace of mind and assurance that you will receive a quality service from your solicitor, look for Lexcel – the mark of excellence.
At Wilkin Chapman, we have earned special recognition for our expertise in particular areas of law by achieving membership of a number of the Law Society's Accreditation Schemes:
Clinical Negligence
Personal Injury
Family Law
Criminal Litigation
Family Mediation
Conveyancing Quality
The schemes promote high standards in legal service provision and ensure that clients are easily able to identify legal practitioners with proven competency in given areas of law. They also ensure that scheme members maintain relevant standards of competency and expertise by means of periodic reselection, re-accreditation and re-authorisation.
Law Society Accreditation Scheme membership is voluntary. The expertise of scheme members in a given area of law has been verified and their accomplishment is recognised by the Law Society.
As an accredited law firm in a number of areas, the schemes:
promote high standards in legal service provision
ensure that clients are easily able to identify legal practitioners with proven competency in given areas of law
help consumers to make informed choices about whom to instruct
assure consumers that the Law Society has asked the questions that a discerning client wouldn't otherwise ask
ensure that scheme members maintain relevant standards of competency and expertise by means of periodic reselection, re-accreditation and re-authorisation
Cyber Essentials is a government backed scheme that ensures the protection of an organisation against a whole range of cyber-attacks. Law firms with the accreditation demonstrate their commitment to cyber security.
In order to be awarded with their certified plus accreditation, a thorough review and independent on-site audit was completed on all our technology, processes, and cyber defences. This review further involved carrying out an assessment with the Information Assurance for Small and Medium Enterprises (IASME) against the requirements of Cyber Essentials.
The Cyber Essentials Certified Plus accreditation means a great deal to our firm. We place great emphasis on the protection of our client’s information. This accreditation strengthens our defence against ever increasing cyber-attacks by employing best practice standards and techniques, while providing assurance to our clients. We are committed to continually investing in tools and techniques that improve our cyber stature and enable efficiency in managing our client’s information and internal business processes.
We are pleased to announce that we have been named as a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). The Disability Confident scheme helps to remove barriers preventing disabled people and those with long term health conditions from accessing employment.
To be approved for the scheme, we demonstrated our commitment to being an inclusive employer by:
actively attracting and recruiting disabled people to help fill our opportunities and vacancies;
providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process;
offering interviews to disabled people who meet the requirements;
being flexible when assessing people so disabled applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate that they can do the job;
proactively offering and making reasonable adjustments as required;
ensuring our people have appropriate disability equality awareness;
promoting a culture of being disability confident;
supporting our people to manage their disabilities or health conditions;
ensuring there are no barriers to the development and progression of disabled people;
ensuring managers are aware of how they can support their people who are sick or absent from work; and
valuing and listening to feedback from disabled people.
We are proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. We’re determined to challenge attitudes, increase understanding of disability, and improve employee morale by demonstrating fair treatment. This accreditation will enable us to draw from the widest pool of incredible talent and retain high-quality people whose ethics match our core values.