Legal 500: Yorkshire firms competing in Premier League

Despite fears that Yorkshire's legal market is close to saturation point, a number of firms have entered the county's legal market in recent years, including DWF, Ward Hadaway and Dickinson Dees. The report highlights how many Yorkshire firms are providing "London quality for a reasonable provincial price". It also chronicles the changing face of Yorkshire's legal scene. Halliwells, which had an office in Sheffield, recently filed for administration and later concluded negotiations with Hill Dickinson, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, and HBJ Gateley Wareing over the break-up and sale of its business, which also included bases in Manchester, Liverpool and London. The Legal 500 report states: "Leeds is the epicentre of the Yorkshire market and remains as competitive as ever. Sheffield is the region's second-largest legal market, while York, Hull and, to a lesser extent, Bradford and Harrogate, all offer a broad selection of firms." According to the Legal 500, Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper, Eversheds, Hammonds, Pinsent Masons and Walker Morris dominate in Leeds. The report adds: "Other notable firms in the city are Cobbetts, Irwin Mitchell, Gordons and Clarion, which enjoyed some notable recent success and Lupton Fawcett, Lee & Priestley and Brooke North. "The leading names in Sheffield are DLA Piper, Nabarro and Irwin Mitchell and several local firms are also attracting top work. Notably, Taylor & Emmet is gaining traction in the market and HLW Commercial Lawyers is another key firm. Kennedys opened an office in Sheffield in July 2010 following the hire of a sizeable team from Halliwells." The report described York as "an increasingly important market", with the recently arrived Dickinson Dees picking up quality work, and leveraging ties with its Newcastle office. Langleys also regularly competes for commercial and private client work. The report continues: "Harrogate is home to McCormicks, which offers a quality alternative to York and Leeds firms, while in Hull firms such as Andrew Jackson, Gosschalks and Rollits attract work from shipping and the food processing industries." The report highlights the range of corporate and commercial work being carried out by lawyers in Yorkshire, which includes work with international clients. Addleshaw Goddard's client list includes J Sainsbury, Skipton Building Society and Travelodge Hotels. DLA Piper played a key role in restructuring Dawson Holdings, a media distributor with a turnover of 775m. The corporate team at Eversheds recently advised Daisy Communications on the 204m reverse takeover of the Freedom4 Group, while Pinsent Masons acted for Speedy Hire on a 100m rights issue. The Walker Morris team advised Leeds-based Endless on its accelerated acquisition and refinancing of Vasanta. Hammonds is a leader in the private equity market and recently acted for Lloyds Development Capital on its 50m buyout of Quantum Specials. Clarion advised accountancy firm Mazars on its acquisition of Manchester and Liverpool-based Chadwick, while Cobbetts has advised Dr Oetker on the purchase of Schwan's European pizza business. Gordons has a client list which includes Bradford-based Wm Morrison supermarkets. Irwin Mitchell has a three-partner team, which advised German firm Mabanaft on acquiring Thomas Silvey. Langleys provided advice on the sale of Flaxby Golf and Country Club to Skelwith Leisure. Lupton Fawcett has acted on several merger and acquisitions in the healthcare sector. Other law firms with highly rated corporate teams include Brooke North, Denison Till, DWF, Harrowells, Dickinson Dees, Last Cawthra Feather, Watson Burton, Lee & Priestley, Nabarro, Wake Smith & Tofields, Schofield Sweeney, Keeble Hawson, Shulmans and Ashton Morton Slack.