Ward Hadaway wins national award

The firm has been named UK Regional Law Firm of the Year for Real Estate in the Legal 500 Awards 2017.

Organised by independent legal guide Legal 500, the awards recognise outstanding performance over the past year by law firms in a range of different specialist fields.

They are awarded to elite legal practitioners and based on comprehensive research into the UK legal market, including more than 50,000 interviews with clients, intermediaries and contemporaries.

A leading firm from each region of the country is put forward for each category of the Regional Awards, so each category sees legal practices from around the country compete for the title.

Ward Hadaway fought off stiff competition from practices in Yorkshire, the Midlands, the North West, the South Coast, and East Anglia to win the Real Estate award.

The firm was also nominated in the categories of Public Sector and Projects, Energy & Natural Resources in the Legal 500 Awards.

Neil Robson

Ward Hadaway’s Head of Property Neil Robson (pictured) said: “This is a tremendous award win for the team and is a testament to their skills, aptitude and dedication to providing the very best service to our clients.

“We pride ourselves on the quality of our team and the work which we carry out so to receive independent recognition of this on a national footing is really rewarding.

“The fact that the award is based on interviews with and feedback from our clients makes it even more valuable as they are the people whose opinions matter most to us. Without their vision and determination, none of the work which we do would be possible, so this award is really as much for them as it is for us.”

The property team is one of the largest of its kind in the North legal sector and carries out work for a wide range of clients in the private and public sectors, including developers, housebuilders, commercial operators, large estates, agricultural businesses and major health and local government bodies.

The UK Regional Law Firm of the Year for Real Estate title is the second major award which the property team based at Ward Hadaway’s Newcastle office has won in the past two years.

In 2015, the team was named Property Team of the Year in the inaugural Northern Law Awards, which showcases and celebrate outstanding achievement in the legal industry across the North of England.

It is also the third year in a row in which Ward Hadaway has won a title at the Legal 500 UK Awards. Last year, the firm was named UK Regional Law Firm of the Year for Litigation and Dispute Resolution and in 2014, Ward Hadaway won the UK Regional Law Firm of the Year Award for Finance.

Jamie Martin, Managing Partner at Ward Hadaway, said: “We are delighted with this latest award win, which is further independent recognition of the quality and expertise of our property team.

“To win three national awards in successive years in three very different practice areas speaks volumes for the breadth and depth of legal excellence we have at the firm.

“It also further reinforces our status as a Northern law firm for national business.”

Ward Hadaway has won a number of other accolades over the past year.

Earlier this year, the firm was named Corporate & Commercial Team of the Year at the Northern Law Awards 2016.

Ward Hadaway is the current Corporate INTL Global Awards PFI Law Firm of the Year, having won the same awards in 2014 and 2013, and is also the Global Law Experts 2016 Awards PFI Law Firm of the Year in England.

The firm has been named Best Commercial Firm in the North of England in the Wealth & Finance Magazine 2016 Awards and Recognised Leader in Pensions Law in the same awards.

Ward Hadaway’s Head of Corporate Martin Hulls was named Corporate Lawyer of the Year in the North East Insider Dealmakers Awards 2016.

The firm has been shortlisted for the Legal Advisors to Education Institutions award in the national Education Investor Awards, which take place later this month.