The 2022 edition of The Legal 500 was recently launched and once again includes a fantastic set of rankings and testimonials for Greene & Greene’s teams and individuals with one client commenting ‘My experience has been that in whatever field – Greene & Greene has always provided exceptional advice and followed up / supported by outstanding efficiency from very capable and user-friendly personnel.’
With two teams moving up a Tier, the firm holds a number of Top Tier rankings including the Corporate and Commercial and Commercial Litigation teams from the corporate services and the Personal Tax, Trusts & Probate and Contentious Trusts and Probate teams for the individual services. The Construction team has also been making great strides, seeing the team rise to Tier 2.
Corporate Services
The Corporate Team moves up to Tier 1 and is portrayed as a deep bench of partners, led by Simon Ratcliffe, who handle regional, national and cross-border corporate transactions. Neil Walmsley is noted as handling acquisitions, disposals, financings and restructurings whilst Mark Daly’s niche in advising shareholders of high-growth VC-backed science and technology companies is also commented upon. Known for his work on corporate restructurings, Andrew Cooper is also highlighted for providing fundraising advice to technology companies. Mark Whittaker, who joined as a Partner in 2020, is described as ‘commercial, pragmatic, responsive and diligent‘.
The firm’s Banking & Finance team is noted for handling a national portfolio of work, including an increasing list of London clients.
The Commercial Litigation team, which works on regional, national and, increasingly, international matters, is noted as a ‘very strong set-up for major litigation’ with Sarah Western ‘punching well above the weight of a provincial solicitor, taking on City practices‘. Sarah also receives the accolade of Next Generation Partner. Rob Adam and Michael Batty who lead the team ‘know their fields and have the necessary gravitas‘.
The Commercial Property Team, led by Tim Mendes da Costa is noted as having ‘an excellent reputation in the regional commercial property market’ with ‘a great depth of experience and a practical commercial approach‘. They were described as having ‘Great expertise for difficult matters outside London or in East Anglia’. Clients appreciated the team’s approach, particularly in light of pandemic restrictions: ‘Our engagement with them was collaborative and positive throughout, which was hugely appreciated by myself and my team, as it helped to keep things as easy as possible. We held a handful of virtual meetings, but just being able to pick up the phone or to send an email to talk something through was really valuable’.
Julia Cardy and Hugo Greer-Walker are also highlighted by clients as bringing a broad range of real estate experience to the team. Jonathan Mathers is the firm’s rural and agricultural specialist.
The experienced Property Litigation team sees Partners Rob Adam and Michael Batty leading a small but highly skilled team, in which Sarah Western is ‘rightly feared by opponents as a formidable opponent whose star is rising fast‘.
Rising Star Sarah also leads the firm’s growing Construction practice. The team continues to grow from strength to strength and is noted as a ‘small, efficient team that is great to work with‘. Another client commented, ‘Rob Adam and Sarah Western are absolute stars: they deliver fantastic results for clients, work tirelessly, and are exceptionally driven. They are legal ninjas.’ Sarah and Solicitor Anna Britland are highlighted for their high level of service, ‘they are always willing to deliver and turn around legal responses in demanding timescales when requested’.
The Employment Team is described as being ‘well resourced and able to match larger teams from London and top 50 practices‘. Head of the team, Selene Holden, has ‘great clarity of thought and cuts straight to the chase‘. Greg Jones is noted for being ‘extremely responsive, commercial and practical’. Greg also joins Selene is having received the accolade of “Leading Individual”. Angharad Ellis Owen, Employment Barrister, has clients in a range of key sectors with one client commenting, ‘everything that she did was conducted under the usual ethos and she was also striking the right balance of empathy and objectivity. All information requests and responses to our company were full, comprehensive and punctual. We can’t fault this service in any way.’ The team is described as, ‘For a small regional firm, they punch above their weight. I would be happy to have Greene and Greene on my side against larger big City firms.’
Individual Services
The firm’s Top Tier private client practice, which assists clients across East Anglia, London and nationwide, is led by Wayne Perrin . The team is known for being ‘responsive, willing and able team with the right skills and experience‘. The team’s Tax directors Martine Swaep and Nigel Scase are highlighted for ‘their attention to detail and knowledge‘. Zoe Hodge is noted as being ‘ able to deal with our requests efficiently and effectively. She was very responsive and could be relied upon to do what she said she would do in the timeframe explained.’ The team is also praised for its ability to continue to offer a high level of customer service through a pandemic: ‘We found the firm coped with Covid extremely well, when they closed their offices staff worked from home, but you would never had known, work was carried out as normal, calls diverted to their home lines, various matters emailed, everything worked as normal like clockwork.’
The Contentious Probate team, also ranked Top Tier, has a ‘strong knowledge and experience in contentious trusts and probate work, and also provides wonderful client service‘. MichaelBatty and the ‘very personable and reassuring‘ Rob Adam are ‘proactive and give clear advice‘.
‘A top-rated firm of dynamic, determined solicitors who will always get the job done’, one client describes the firm’s Family team as ‘focused, hardworking, determined, bright and well-informed‘, The ‘bright, hardworking, astute, extremely thorough and wise‘ Stuart Hughes is supported by the ‘responsive, articulate and helpful‘ Melanie Pilmer and Emma Alfieri, who is ‘efficient and good with clients‘. Clients praise the team’s expertise and high level of service, including ‘‘They handled my case superbly and kept me fully informed at all times. The billing process was clean and easy to keep up with and most importantly the advice and support was fantastic’ and ‘The family department has excellent breadth and depth of knowledge, with a focus on sensible advice to clients to help them achieve the best possible outcome.’
For a full list of rankings and client testimonials, please visit Greene & Greene’s Legal 500 profile.
