Hamlins has been recognised as a leading firm in the Legal 500 2024, with our practice areas and team members recommended across the board in this year’s guide to UK Solicitors.
Clients commend our ‘unrivalled knowledge, commercial awareness and professionalism’ and consistently refer to our personal and relationship-focussed approach and the time and care given to our client work.
“Hamlins is my go-to firm for reliably smart, clear and concise advice, with industry-leading market knowledge and a highly commercially-aware team focused on getting the best results in a sensible time frame. Unlike other firms we have worked with, advice is presented to us in a way that makes it highly digestible, and results-focused, and goes above and beyond in order to offer us multiple avenues to achieving good results.”
Partners Chris Hutchings, Kate Andrews, Martin Ochs and Matthew Pryke are recognised as Leading Individuals.
19 members of the Hamlins team have been highlighted as Recommended Lawyers, and Laura Daly in our Dispute Resolution team is recognised for the second year as a Rising Star.
These rankings demonstrate the breadth of expertise of our colleagues across all practice areas.
Senior Partner, Joseph Holder, said:
“We are hugely grateful to our clients for the positive feedback they have shared with the Legal 500 research team. Their testimonials make for fantastic reading and it is a huge boost to the Hamlins team to be recognised in this way.
We are proud to be ranked in so many categories and for such a large number of our amazing team members to be recommended.”
Hamlins is listed in the following categories:
Media & Entertainment
Leading Individual: Martin Ochs
Practice head: Martin Ochs
Key Lawyers: Callum Galbraith, Christopher Hutchings
Under the leadership of Martin Ochs, Hamlins is a go-to firm for festival organisers and leading UK music collecting societies, such as the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and the Performing Right Society (PRS), on all contentious music requirements. The team further handles the protection and exploitation of IP rights within the music space, and boasts a broad client roster comprising various musicians, publishers, talent managers, film composers, authors and celebrities.
Reputation Management
Leading Individual: Christopher Hutchings
Practice head: Christopher Hutchings
Key Lawyers: Callum Galbraith, Ellen Gallagher, Lauren Twidale, Sarah Daniel
The media dispute department at Hamlins works for a range of high-profile clients across print and digital media, where it is instructed in precedent-setting defamation and privacy cases. In addition, the team advises public and private figures on pre-publication issues, as well as libel and privacy law. Practice head Christopher Hutchings has over 30 years of experience in media litigation, particularly in regard to libel and privacy cases. Callum Galbraith is an expert in supporting high-profile individuals with defamation and privacy issues.
M&A Smaller Deals, up to £50m
Practice head: Aselle Djumabaeva-Wood
Key Lawyer: Roger Pointon
Steered by corporate finance expert Aselle Djumabaeva-Wood, the team at Hamlins is regularly engaged by entrepreneurs, SMEs and large corporates across a range of sectors. The practice is well regarded for its expertise in the technology and media arenas, in particular. Roger Pointon – who joined the team as a consultant from Hill Dickinson LLP – brings more than 20 years of experience acting on acquisitions, management buy-ins and mergers.
Hospitality & Leisure
Practice head: Ben Kilshaw
Key Lawyers: Martin Ochs, John Leasure, Stephanie Brown
Hamlins’ hospitality and leisure team is seen as a ‘go-to’ practice for brand management, site developments and acquisitions, and day-to-day operational issues, including those affecting timeshare-related products. Recent work has involved helping clients navigate lower demand and increased construction and energy costs. Ben Kilshaw leads the team, while commercial disputes and intellectual property specialist Martin Ochs handles the full range of relevant matters, from operational work to international litigation, for hotels and travel-related clients. Previously based in the United Arab Emirates, John Leasure handles portfolio acquisitions and disposals, and refinancing for both landlords and tenants.
Property Litigation
Leading Individual: Kate Andrews
Practice head: Kate Andrews
Key Lawyers: Sarah Finch, Samantha Gordon
Hamlins supports a wide-range of clients including property managers, investors, residential leaseholders and commercial landlords and tenants. The team is led by Kate Andrews, who has considerable experience handling leasehold covenants, dilapidations, service charges and rent reviews, alongside other landlord and tenant issues. Andrews is supported by ‘truly excellent solicitor’ Sarah Finch, a specialist in commercial property disputes arising from issues in blocks of flats.
Commercial Property: Investment
Practice head: Mark Hurst
Key Lawyers: Joseph Holder, John Leasure, Ben Kilshaw, Victoria Camfield
Practice leader Mark Hurst and Joseph Holder are praised by clients as ‘exceptional partners’; the former is proficient in portfolio transactions, and the latter is a key port of call for family offices, funds, and institutional investors. John Leasure handles an array of real estate transactions, while Ben Kilshaw has demonstrable experience advising clients in the hotel and leisure sectors.
Construction: Contentious
Key Lawyer: Sarah Finch
Hamlins provides assistance to developers, investors, occupiers, funders, and contractors. Sarah Finch has a broad property litigation practice, and has particular experience in adjudications relating to final accounts and delay claims.
Sport
Leading Individual: Matthew Pryke
Practice head: Matthew Pryke
Hamlins’ sports team frequently takes on corporate and commercial mandates, spanning corporate structuring, broadcast rights and sponsorship deals for clients across a range of sports, including sailing, cricket, athletics and football. Team head Matthew Pryke is sought out by clients for assistance on a diverse array of matters, such as sports events management, broadcast and promoter agreements and regulatory issues.
Commercial Litigation: Mid Market
Key Lawyers: Martin Ochs, Laura Daly, Lauren Twidale
Hamlins’ team acts in contractual and tortious claims, and civil fraud and fiduciary duty-related disputes. Martin Ochs is a contentious IP and commercial disputes specialist, and principal associate Laura Daly and associate Lauren Twidale are active litigators.
Professional Negligence
Rising Star: Laura Daly
Key Lawyers: Sarah Finch, Laura Daly
Hamlins is a claimant focused firm with an emphasis on construction professional negligence. The firm used to defend insurers in professional indemnity cases, which is useful experience for their current focus on acting for claimants against larger defendant panel insurance firms.
Property Finance
Practice head: Aselle Djumabaeva-Wood
Hamlins ‘punch above their weight’ in real estate finance of development and investment property, and has a strong focus on student accommodation, hotel developments, high-end residential developments and apartment complexes. Aselle Djumabaeva-Wood is an ‘excellent lawyer’ who specialises in secured lending for real estate and corporate acquisition transactions.
Intellectual Property: Trade Marks, Copyright and Design
Practice heads: Martin Ochs, Matthew Pryke
Active in the media and entertainment sector, Hamlins handles a broad range of matters, from partnership and brand licensing agreements to anti-counterfeiting. The team is also recommended by clients for its wealth of experience in the realm of music IP. Joint practice head Matthew Pryke has demonstrable expertise in the media sector, advising agencies, influencers and models, while ‘pragmatic and commercial’ Martin Ochs is well-versed in the trade marks arena.
