Last week, the 2017 edition of the Legal 500 was published. Individuals and departments from Howells Solicitors have historically been included in the publication and this year was no exception.
We featured in five categories of this year’s legal 500 with key personnel receiving individual mentions.
• Family Law
• Contentious Trusts and Probate
• Personal Tax, Trusts and Pensions
• Commercial Property
• Employment
What is the Legal 500?
The publication is an independent guide that ranks the performance of legal professionals, departments and companies from across the UK based on their own extensive market research that includes feedback from 250,000 clients, interviews with the relevant parties and submissions made. Legal 500 does not include a section for residential conveyancing.
Why Has Howells Been Recognised?
Family Law
Our family law department provides a comprehensive range of legal services for clients involving all aspects of family law. We have an established team of solicitors who specialise in key areas and work together on behalf of clients to expert support, guidance and understanding.
The Legal 500 comments:
‘Fielding two practitioners in Cardiff and one in Caerphilly, Howells Solicitors ‘really does punch above its weight’ and provides an ‘excellent service’ on everything from public/private child law matters to high-net-worth divorces.
‘‘Standout lawyer’ Richard Scott provides ‘sensible, realistic advice and is able to quickly identify what the case is about and what the objectives for the client should be’. Scott has a particular niche advising police officers in divorce proceedings and regularly handles matters on behalf of the South Wales and Gwent Police Federations.
‘As well as his police force work, Scott also handles work covering the waterfront of family law including cases relating to complicated financial proceedings involving foreign assets, children cases and pre-nuptial agreements.’
Contentious Trusts and Probate
Laith Khatib, Director and Head of Wills, Probate and Asset Management, leads our expert team of solicitors who are establishing themselves as one of the best in this this specialist field. The department has actively recruited key personnel during the past 12 months to further strengthen the quality of the legal services they provide.
The Legal 500 comments:
‘At Howells Solicitors, the ‘very knowledgeable’ and ‘technically sound’ team head Laith Khatib is ‘one of the leading contentious practitioners in Wales’ and has significant experience in all manner of estates, including those involving commercial issues.
‘As well as handling direct instructions, Khatib often receives referrals from other law firms. Recent work has included prosecuting and defending numerous claims brought under The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.’
Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate
Again, under the leadership of Laith Khatib, our personal tax, trusts and probate team have an enviable reputation for providing in-depth legal advice and guidance for a wide variety of such matters including complex and technical cases. Four members of our team received recognition in this year’s Legal 500.
The Legal 500 comments:
‘The ‘responsive and commercial’ team at Howells Solicitors has a ‘real ability to think outside the box’, enabling it to provide particular value to clients on complex estate planning matters.
‘Although he is perhaps best known for his contentious probate expertise, the ‘very knowledgeable and calm’ Laith Khatib also provides ‘practical and sensible solutions’ to clients across the gamut of estate planning work, including the preparation of complex wills and lifetime trusts designed to protect assets and/or reduce IHT exposure.
‘Claire Davis continues to advise families on setting up wills and lifetime trusts, with an emphasis on protecting vulnerable and disabled children.
‘Consultant John O’Connell has vast experience in the private client field; in addition to advising on wills and lifetime trusts, he is also involved in a professional deputy capacity to help look after the property and financial affairs for clients who lack capacity.
‘‘Helpful and supportive’ solicitor Hayley Rees has significant private client experience, including advising unmarried couples on the protection of their assets in the event of the breakdown of the relationship or death of one of the parties.’
Commercial Property
Located in our Cardiff office, our commercial property team provides a full service for clients buying, selling, renting and leasing commercial property. Our department provides individual solutions for each client and has the capability and expertise to scale their services so they can represent sole traders and national organisations.
The Legal 500 comments:
‘Howells Solicitors acts for its impressive roster of private clients on high-end residential conveyancing work, and also handles standalone commercial property matters. Rhidian Hobbs leads on the commercial property front and has expertise across a range of matters including landlord and tenant, owner-occupier work, development and business transfers.’
Employment Law
Our employment law department has been restructured over the past 12 months with a number of key promotions and appointments made. Now headed by David Lewis, our department has recruited a team of solicitors who specialise in representing employers and employees for a wide range of employment law matters.
The Legal 500 comments:
‘Howells Solicitors’ employment group includes associate David Lewis, who joined from Harding Evans LLP and brings experience advising local businesses across a range of HR issues, employment disputes and contract and policies drafting. Lewis also has niche expertise in sports issues and has handled exit and contract negotiations for numerous well-known sporting individuals.’
Mark Hobbs, Managing Director of Howells Solicitor is very pleased with the recognition received in this year’s publication. He said,
“Our conveyancing departments have won multiple national awards and accreditations over the past couple of years. We have invested in strengthening all of our departments through the development of our own staff, the recruitment of experienced legal professionals and proactive marketing campaigns and it’s fantastic to receive this recognition for some of the other legal services we provide.”
If you would like to learn more about our friendly and knowledgeable team here at Howells, discover our team page here or read the latest Howells company news for regular updates.
To read more about the awards and accreditations awarded to Howells please click here.
