Hodge Jones & Allen celebrates new and improved recommendations for lawyers and 10 recommendations for practice areas in Legal 500 2023
The Legal 500 UK Directory announced its new rankings for 2023 today and we’re delighted that even more of our leading lawyers throughout our specialist legal teams have been recognised for their legal skills, client care and expertise. Overall, Hodge Jones & Allen now has a total of 33 recommendations for individual lawyers.
Susie Labinjoh, Head of our Civil Liberties and Human Rights team and Riffat Yaqub, Partner in our Personal Injury team are both newly recognised as Leading Individuals. Susie, who is commended for being an “excellent and highly experienced litigator”, has received praise for assisting clients in a wide range of cases, from seeking compensation for the victims of miscarriages of justice, to acting on behalf of Extinction Rebellion protestors and Kings College London students. Riffat received praise for her “wealth of experience and individual excellence” and “empathetic approach with clients that are going through a personally challenging phase in their life”.
Leticia Williams, Head of our Personal Injury Team is recognised as a Next Generation Partner, receiving excellent feedback: “In my experience, Leticia Williams is one of the best solicitors in the field. She is incredibly thorough, her instincts are always spot on, she is sensible and tactically astute. Her manner and client care skills are second to none.” Daniel Fitzpatrick, Deputy Head of our Housing Team is also recognised as a Next Generation Partner. He is recommended for his “extensive experience in human rights and discrimination matters” and for being a leading housing solicitor in the Grenfell inquiry.
Our new Rising Stars are Priya Singh, Senior Associate within our Medical Negligence Team and Laura O’Brien, Partner in our Criminal Defence team, whilst Gimhani Eriyagolla and Sarah Flanagan, both Civil Liberties Associates, and Christine Dyson, Partner and Head of our Mental Capacity & Deputyship team are all newly recognised as recommended lawyers.
Top tier status, the highest level of recommendation, continues to be retained by our Criminal Defence and Social Housing Teams, which is independent recognition of the brilliant and vital work carried out by the teams throughout the year. Independent researchers received glowing testimonials for both teams from both clients and fellow legal experts.
Our Housing Team, led by the “exceptional” Jayesh Kunwardia, who is recognised as being “imaginative and exceptionally committed to the rights of tenants and homeless persons”, deal with a wide range of housing matters including housing disrepair, discrimination and evictions. Testimonials received included the following comments: “The Social Housing Team at Hodge Jones & Allen have in the last few years grown and developed as one of the strongest firms in Social Housing. They are involved in many of the major Social Housing cases that come before the higher courts and are represented on the Grenfell Inquiry, they now combine tenants’ rights with a contract to take on discrimination cases in housing. As leaders in the field, they provide great training to their junior solicitors and paralegals who always have an impressive knowledge of all aspects of housing.”
Our Criminal Defence Team received the following comments: “HJA’s criminal solicitors are amongst the leading criminal solicitors in the country. They have been involved in countless landmark cases but also in hundreds if not thousands of important protest cases in the magistrates’ courts.” Raj Chada, who heads up the team is described as “a fantastic lawyer who is universally respected” and an “excellent advocate”, receiving recognition for public order work and matters involving high profile clients, including MPs.
Patrick Allen, Senior Partner and a founding member of the firm is again recognised in this year’s results: ‘Patrick Allen is one of the most experienced claimant lawyers practicing in personal injury. He has an interest in justice and also a deep interest in law and law reform, he inspires confidence and has a good rapport with clients.’
Commenting on this year’s rankings Patrick said: “It is fantastic that in our 45th anniversary year we remain at the forefront of providing top tier services, with incredible individuals and teams working hard to represent their clients and fight for what’s right.”
For the details of all recommended lawyers and departments, please click here to see this year’s rankings in full.