Leading Law Firm Ranked by Legal 500 UK

In addition, Alan Lewis, joint head of the employment department, who has been ranked for several years whilst based at a city centre firm, retains his ‘Leading Individual’ status. Alan was the first solicitor in the North West to be ranked as a leading individual acting for employees.

Co-head Susan Mayall joins Alan as a recommended solicitor alongside Ben Williams. The Oldham-based firm employs over 80 staff members across its three sites in Greater Manchester.  The provider of legal and financial expertise since 1874, can proudly boast this benchmark achievement and is the only law firm in Oldham to have ever been ranked in the Legal 500.

Georgina Stanley, Editor at The Legal 500 UK Solicitor, states that: “All of the firms and individuals ranked are recommended by us for the year ahead from publication on 04 October 2023.

“These rankings reflect the result of months of extensive analysis by our research team, who conduct thousands of interviews with private practice lawyers and read through tens of thousands of submissions in order to select the very best lawyers and law firms in the UK.”

Alan said, “I am delighted to have helped Pearson achieve national recognition in the Legal 500.  When I brought my employment team across from Linder Myers at the end of 2022 to join the well-established team headed by Susan Mayall, I knew the Pearson team was worthy of a Legal 500 recognition. After seven months of anticipation, I am simply elated with the news and that the teams’ efforts in the submission process have now come to fruition.”

“We must take a moment to thank our team, the research team and, of course, our clients, in particular those who afforded their time to speak to the researchers and provide testimonials which we are thrilled with.

“Alan Lewis is a very professional, experienced and skilled solicitor who also understands the importance of being able to communicate effectively with his clients. He is a man of his word and instils confidence in you when you feel you have lost hope; he is extremely honest, honourable and is straightforward – a thoroughly decent human being and a highly competent solicitor.”

“Alan Lewis understands what clients need and what they are going through – he knows his area of expertise inside and out and back to front.”

“Alan Lewis is extremely approachable and affable. When I have had occasion to contact him with work difficulties, he always responds quickly, and demonstrates a swift grasp of the issues and explains things in a clear and straightforward way.”

“Pearson Solicitors provide a personal service, and you are made to feel as though you are their only client. There are affordable options for financial engagement, offering either a monthly ‘package’ approach or bespoke fixed fee options. This means you can engage with them frequently and with confidence, knowing the cost.”

“They have a great deal of knowledge and deliver their services in a personable and efficient manner.”

“Susan Mayall is an outstanding, professional individual who has a breadth of knowledge regarding employment law. She works incredibly hard to provide quick answers and is always available to talk through difficult situations. Not only has she provided excellent advice and support to our business but has enabled us to grow our knowledge and experience with her support.”

The write up by The Legal 500 demonstrates the work Pearson does and why they have been ranked:

The Legal 500 write: Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd recently bolstered its capacity for a full-service through several arrivals from Linder Myers in 2022, including team head Alan Lewis. The firm advises on mandates ranging from protective award claims, senior executive exits, and responding to restrictive covenant assertions. Lewis focuses on exit negotiations for individuals, working on cases across, but not limited to, the financial services, legal, real estate and telecommunications sectors; he also has experience in unfair dismissal and discrimination cases, as well as acting for collectives during redundancy disputes. Co-head Susan Mayall handles post-termination restrictions and TUPE transfer matters across a wide breadth of sectors, while Ben Williams, has a particular focus on unfair dismissal and discrimination matters, with experiencing litigating in Employment Tribunal claims.

In the wake of an impressive year of recruitment, Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd has fostered a strong team with the ability to handle the full breadth of contentious and non-contentious employment mandates. The ‘stand out’ team head Susan Mayall is active in TUPE transfers, GDPR and data protection issues, contractual and policy drafting procedures, as well as advising senior management on executive hires and departures. Alan Lewis, who joined from Linder Myers Solicitors in November 2022, joins Mayall as co-head of the department, and has largely focused on restrictive covenant, redundancy, and discrimination and unfair dismissal tribunal proceedings. Ben Williams, who also joined from Linder Myers Solicitors alongside Lewis, is commended for his ability to tailor specific advice to clients, providing ad-hoc HR support amongst a steady volume of grievances investigations and disciplinary processes counsel.

Work highlights include:

• Acted for a director of a big 4 bank in claims for unfair dismissal and breach of contract, successfully achieving re-engagement with full back pay and payment of substantial legal costs.
• Successfully achieving protective awards in the Employment Tribunal for substantial numbers of employees made redundant by multiple companies including Roadbridge UK Limited, Turbine Efficiency Limited and Bleikers Smokehouse.
• Acting for substantial numbers of employees affected by the high-profile collapse of Metamorph Law and the subsequent SRA intervention for claims for protective awards.

The accreditation falls on the back of the firm’s recent win at the Oldham Business Awards, where the firm picked up the award for ‘Supporting Young People’.