Business

Carson McDowell beats its own records to top prestigious legal rankings

Elaine Hill Photography
Elaine Hill Photography Elaine Hill Photography

BELFAST-based law firm Carson McDowell has achieved its best-ever rankings in the legal profession’s two most respected industry guides, Chambers UK and the Legal 500.

Northern Ireland’s largest independent law firm, it scored significantly higher than any other local legal firm, with more practice areas and more lawyers achieving their top ratings in both guides.

The firm has been consistently ranked as top local law firm in each guide over the past number of years, and has beaten its own records for recognition of both its partners and its specialist teams.

Carson McDowell continued its record-breaking success in the Chambers 2020 listing, achieving the ‘band one’ rating in 21 out of 26 practice areas and 23 partners given the top accolade. This level of band one classifications means the firm significantly outperformed all other Northern Irish law firms featured in the guide.

In the Legal 500, it had the highest number of practice areas ranked in the top tier category and more solicitors named as “leading individuals” than any other firm in the north.

Twelve out of 14 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked as tier one category and 17 leading individuals were named. Among the achievements, the planning & environment team at Carson McDowell was recognised as the only top tier firm for planning and environmental law in Northern Ireland by the Legal 500 rankings.

The firm's senior partner Neasa Quigley said: “I'm delighted but not surprised by these results.

“Carson McDowell has a long-standing policy of hiring and developing the best talent and it is clear from these prestigious guides that our expertise is recognised by our clients and peers across a wide range of practice areas.

“It is particularly pleasing to see some of our practice areas being awarded the highest accolades for the first time, including IT/technology and insurance.

“The continued strong performance in these rankings serves to highlight our ongoing commitment to delivering the highest levels of service to all of our clients.”