Education team maintains clean sweep of top rankings in latest legal directories

Browne Jacobson’s education team has again been confirmed as a national powerhouse after securing five Tier 1 rankings relating to Education in the latest edition of Legal 500 and maintaining a Band 1 UK-wide ranking for Education in Chambers & Partners UK 2023.

This means that nationally the firm and all five of its regional teams in Birmingham, Exeter, London, Manchester and Nottingham have again been awarded the directory’s highest ranking. These directories reflect extensive research and analysis by the respective teams, who conduct thousands of interviews to select the very best law firms and lawyers in the UK.

“A stellar education practice”

Described by Chambers as providing “a stellar education practice” and by Legal 500 as “deeply impressive and hugely knowledgeable”, the firm’s education practice supports over 1,300 schools and academies every year from its five-office national network. The team’s market-leading reputation means that they are often the first port of call for education clients seeking advice and support on matters attracting political, societal and media attention and a hallmark of the team’s approach is to combine their legal expertise and deep education sector understanding to provide advice that enables their clients to navigate the evolving education landscape.

This year Legal 500 complimented the Browne Jacobson Education team on its “incredibly professional, approachable and knowledgeable workforce” in which “every colleague is exceptional and there is never any variation from the highest possible standards”.

Chambers UK 2023 noted that, clients value such “an exceptionally well-regarded education practice” and the support of "an extremely capable team of education lawyers with strength in depth, coupled with pragmatism and empathy”.

Leading lawyers and rising stars

A number of individual lawyers within the Browne Jacobson education team were also celebrated by this year’s legal directories. National Head of Education Mark Blois is again named in Legal 500’s ‘Hall of Fame’ for Education and Partners Dai Durbridge (North West), Julia Green (London, South West) and Richard Freeth and Nick MacKenzie (West Midlands) are identified as 'Leading Individuals'. They are joined by Legal Director Lydia Michaelson-Yeates and Senior Associates Hayley O’Sullivan (West Midlands), Victoria Hatton (South West) and Philip Wood (West Midlands) named as ‘Rising Stars’.

Six lawyers in Browne Jacobson’s Education team have also this year received a UK wide individual ranking by Chambers UK including Mark Blois (Band One), Nick Mackenzie and Bettina Rigg (Band Two), Dai Durbridge (Band Three), Richard Freeth and Charlotte Antoniou (Band Four) and additionally Tom Briant-Evans is again ranked as an ‘Associate to Watch’.

Partner and National Head of Education, Mark Blois, said “It is a real honour to receive such market-leading rankings and exceptional client feedback in the latest legal directories. We thank all our clients for their ongoing support. This fantastic set of results also reflects the hard work of every member of the Browne Jacobson Education team and I am also grateful to all of my colleagues for their ongoing commitment to serving our clients and the wider schools sector.”