Stephens Scown celebrates top ranking in independent legal guide

Stephens Scown has announced another strong year, with individuals and teams highly ranked in the definitive industry guide. This includes the firm’s Family, Commercial Property and Employment teams once again retaining the highest possible ranking.

As well as retaining the highest ranking in three sections of the 2024 guide, Stephens Scown is ranked in a total of 18 areas based on feedback received from both clients and peers. In addition, ten of the firm’s legal advisors have been marked for praise, whether as Rising Stars, Next Generation Partners or as Leading Individuals.

The Tier 1-ranked Family team again received the highest plaudits, with one client praising them as an “Approachable team that is strong for vulnerable clients. The private and public law teams have depth of experience.”

Such praise comes hot on the heels of the team recently being shortlisted in the LexisNexis Family Law Awards in the category of Family Law Legal Support.

The firm’s Tier 1 ranked Commercial Litigation team also received extensive praise, with one client saying: “The personal approach of the entire team we feel makes this practice unique, their key strengths being affective, clear, informative communication which even a non-legal mind can understand.”

The third of the firm’s top-ranked teams, the Employment team also scored highly, with a client stating, “Each individual is highly skilled, knowledgeable and as a client you quickly develop a deep trust in their contribution and commitment.”  

Three of Stephens Scown’s Partners retain their ranking as Leading Individuals for their excellent work, including Catherine Mathews from the Commercial Dispute Resolution team (and head of the firm’s Devon office), Laurie Trounce, joint head of the Corporate team and head of the Charity sector team and Richard Bagwell, who leads the Property Litigation team.

In addition, Richard Slater (Commercial Litigation), Ellie Hibberd (Employment), Ian Thomas (Agriculture and Estates), Sarah Atkinson (Family Finance), Thea Bennun (Family Finance) and Kate Westlake (Social Housing) have been highlighted as Next Generation partners and Tim Lane (Corporate) is recognised once more as a Rising Star.

Talking about the results of the 2024 guide, Managing Partner Richard Baker said, “With the extensive research process that goes into the Legal 500 rankings based on the feedback of clients and peers in the marketplace, it is immensely rewarding to see so many teams and individuals once again recognised as being some of the best in the business. We know internally how impressive they are, and so it’s incredibly rewarding to see this reflected externally.”