Semple Fraser Maintains Strong Position in Legal 500
The latest results from The Legal 500, which reviews the practices of the UK’s leading law firms, show impressive results for Semple Fraser in it’s focus areas, with high praise from clients and peers.
Semple Fraser’s Commercial Property team were again ranked top in the Legal 500. The group, who are Tesco’s sole legal provider in Scotland and also advise the retailer in the North of England, is described by clients as ‘excellent’ and commended as ‘always having the sufficient resource’. Gus MacRae is described as ‘commercially driven’ and the ‘prodigious’ Colin Keenan and the ‘superior’ Roger Clarke also received strong feedback.
The firm’s renowned Environment team ranked in the top tier for the fifth year in succession, and was noted as the ‘leading environmental law team in Scotland’, with Vincent Brown and Barry Love both highly regarded. Semple Fraser are the only Scottish law firm to be appointed to the panel of environment law specialists retained by the European Commission. The team also acted successfully for OSS Group, the UK’s leading collector and recycler of waste oils, in a landmark case in the Court of Appeal on the legal definition of waste.
The Planning group moved up the rankings this year with clients commenting that June Gilles and Ken Carruthers make a 'formidable team’ which provides an ‘excellent level of service’ and has a ‘comprehensive understanding’ of the area. The team act for a wide range of clients including Unite Group, Tesco, SPT, Inverness Estates Limited and Capital Shopping Centres.
Market sources noted that the Insolvency & Corporate Recovery team headed by the ‘capable and highly respected’ Gordon Hollerin continues to remain strong. The team has been instructed in a significant number of insolvency and restructuring matters in 2009.
The Construction team, which is praised for its ‘rapid response times and expertise’, also climbed the rankings this year. The team who advise a range of clients from property developers to sub-contractors, advised Sir Robert McAlpine and Taylor Woodrow in a high-profile £10m dispute relating to the upgrading of the M74.
Clients also praised the firm’s Corporate & Commercial section, with Department Head Bill Fowler singled out by clients as being ‘approachable, balanced and plain-speaking’. Head of the firm’s Banking and Finance Group, Alex Innes was also noted as being ‘concise and clear’.
In addition, Chambers legal directory have singled out 13 of Semple Fraser’s Partners as Leaders in their Fields demonstrating that the firm’s principle of sticking to what they do best and concentrating solely on providing specialist advice in the key areas of most importance to their clients, is at the core of their success.