Harrison Drury celebrates another year of increased Legal 500 rankings
Harrison Drury has achieved its highest ever number of ranked departments and individuals within the 2026 edition of the Legal 500, the clients’ guide to the UK legal profession.
This year saw an increase in our department rankings showcasing our breadth of expertise across the industry, with 13 teams being featured, up from 11 in the previous year, and five of those teams moving up to a higher ranking than in the 2025 edition.
Our commercial property team has now been ranked in the top tier for ‘Elsewhere in the North West’ category, recognising them as a “well-rounded team” with “experience across the full gamut of commercial property matters, including the acquisition and disposal of estates and landlord and tenant matters”.
Another two departments, the contentious trusts and probate team and the personal tax, trusts and probate team, have now entered the tiered rankings, jumping straight to Tier 3 demonstrating “impressive technical knowledge” and delivery of “a thorough and effective service to their clients”.
Our employment team has also been promoted to Tier 5 and our agriculture and estates team has been promoted to Tier 2 after both featuring in the ‘Firm to Watch’ rankings for 2025, highlighting the team’s “knowledge of the sector”, “commercial awareness” and its “thorough and pragmatic approach”.
We also retained tiered rankings for the areas of commercial litigation, licensing, corporate and commercial North West, insolvency and corporate recovery, property litigation and family law, as well as being ranked as a ‘Firm to Watch’ once again for construction law and corporate and commercial Manchester expertise.
We also saw a record number of the team being individually recognised as recommended lawyers with 50 staff being named in the guide. This is first year in which multiple lawyers within the firm have been recommended in more than one practice area, with five staff featuring across two areas.
Notably, Hannah Hughes, Nicola Beneduce and Naomi Fell for commercial property and agriculture and estates, Joseph Mitchell for property litigation and agriculture, and Jan Wright for agriculture and estate as well as personal tax, trusts and probate.
The Legal 500 also ranks the leading individual solicitors in categories including ‘Leading Partners’, ‘Next Generation Partners’ and ‘Leading Associates’, of which nine of our team have been ranked.
Simon England (commercial property), Malcolm Ireland (licensing) and James Robbins (insolvency and corporate recovery) were ranked as ‘Leading partners’, Hannah Hughes (commercial property) and Emma Butterworth (employment) were ranked as ‘Next Generation Partners’, and Helen Griffin (commercial litigation), Lucy Benton (commercial property), Samantha Faud (licensing) and Lara Watts (commercial property) were ranked as ‘Leading Associates’.
Simon England, managing partner, said: “We’re incredibly proud to see even more of our teams and individual colleagues recognised in The Legal 500 this year – a record year for us in this respect.
“The reason why the Legal 500 is so prestigious, and its rankings highly sought after, is because it’s based on achieving successful outcomes for clients and those clients being willing to publicly endorse you with genuine qualitative feedback.
“I’d therefore I’d like to thank our clients, referrers and professional partners for taking the time to support us and provide feedback to support our submissions.”
Simon added: “These results highlight our expertise, the trust our clients place in us and the dedication, hard work and collaborative spirit of our people. We work hard to ensure that our people get the individual recognition they deserve for their excellent work for our clients and these rankings demonstrate the strength in depth we have across the firm. A huge congratulations for all the teams and individuals who have been listed.”
The Legal 500 has acted as a guide to clients on the best law firms, solicitors and barristers worldwide for more than three decades. Firms undergo rigorous analysis, including interviews and feedback from clients and professional peers, which is assessed by a panel of experts.
Feedback from our clients and peers
Some of the comments within the guide which highlight the strength of the firm and its people include:
“I think hands down it’s the people in the team that make it. They are approachable, straight taking, practical and really support my buying and selling clients.”
“Their expertise is first-class and they are very good value for money.”
“The business understands its immediate market place and delves deep into making sure advice given is extremely relevant to the micro market and task in hands you do not get blanket advice, it’s very specific and balanced.”
“Harrison Drury is a full-service firm across Lancashire and in central Manchester. They are incredibly commercial, have client care at the heart of their practice, and work for owner-managers and individuals through to institutional clients.”
“Everyone I have encountered at this practise has been totally professional, approachable and welcoming at what can be stressful times.”
“My experience of the insolvency team at Harrison Drury is that the team is forward-thinking and proactive, with its members being hands on and incredibly thorough. The team incorporates a range of experience: it is supportive and personable, and members of the team come highly regarded.”
“Harrison Drury combines sharp legal insight with a truly client-first approach. They are professional without being overly corporate, striking a rare balance between technical excellence and personal, responsive service.”
Our Recommended Lawyers and Ranked Individuals
Harrison Drury’s ‘Recommended Lawyers’ and other ranked individuals in the Legal 500 are:
Commercial Litigation: Nick Booth, Sean Gibbs, Helen Griffin, Martin Stafford, Stuart Farr, Paul Brook
Commercial Property: Simon England, Hannah Hughes, Naomi Fell, Lara Watts, Lucy Benton, Nicola Beneduce, Amanda Marwood, Clare Davey, Rhian Sale
Licensing: Malcolm Ireland, Samantha Faud
Corporate & Commercial: Elsewhere in the North West: Jack Stephenson, Timothy Grover, Kerry Southworth
Corporate & Commercial: Manchester: Mark Traynor, Richard Life, Rory O’Hare, Hayley Goodwin
Family: John Osborne, Rebecca Patience, Emma Panchal, Jenna Atkinson
Insolvency & Corporate Recovery: James Robbins, Peter Barlow, Heather Morris
Property Litigation: Colin Fenny, Ros Monk, Joseph Mitchell, Zoe Taylor, Luke Holden
Construction: Katherine Sibley
Employment: Emma Butterworth, Roger Spence, Jamie Campbell, David Carmichael, Katy Parkinson
Agriculture & Estates: Joseph Mitchell, Naomi Fell, Jan Wright, Nicola Beneduce, Hannah Hughes, Lucy Beachell, Jane Fillis
Personal Tax, Trusts & Probate: Clare Fleming, Jan Wright, Victoria Hill, Charlotte Cooper
Contentious Trusts & Probate: Edward Stanley, Victoria Taylor