The latest Legal 500 rankings have named five Sydney Mitchell Partners as leading partners in their respective legal fields of expertise.
Legal 500 is the world's leading legal services benchmarking platform. Based on independent research against a broad range of legal practice area competencies, legal expertise, industry sector expertise and client satisfaction metrics, the annual directory provides ranked lists of recommended law firms and lawyers.
Recognised individuals
Tracy Creed, partner and head of the firm’s Private Client team, is recognised for the first time as “one of the leading lawyers in the country in critical healthcare”. Also recognised as key lawyers within the Private Client team are partners Shelley Collingbourne and Lorna Payne, and paralegal Patrick Cunnington.
Leanne Schneider-Rose, partner and joint head of the firm’s Dispute Resolution team, also makes her debut in the 2026 Legal 500. Specifically, she is recognised as a leading partner for her work in debt recovery.The directory also recognises Leanne’s colleague Heleena Gandham, as a leading associate
Emma-Louise Hewitt, head of the firm’s Employment team, has previously been recognised as a next-generation partner by Legal 500, and this year she ascends to the status of a leading partner.
The milestones for the firm continue with our senior partner Karen Moores who is also named as a leading partner, marking the fifth year running for this top recognition.
Karen jointly leads Sydney Mitchell’s Family Law team with Mauro Vinti, who Legal 500 also recognises as a key lawyer, while family law partner Gemma Whitchurch, associates Emma Gray and Teresa Mannion, and solicitor Claire Sargant all receive highly positive editorial comment.
Andre Minnaar, Partner and head of the firm’s Immigration team retains his ranking as a leading partner in immigration law within the West Midlands. Immigration lawyer and senior associate Melissa Southall, is also recognised as leading associate.
Team recognition
As well as the success for individual partners, the firm as a whole continues to achieve outstanding results in the Legal 500.
Sydney Mitchell achieves “recommended firm” status in 12 practice areas, including Tier 1 ranking for the firm’s Immigration team and Tier 2 for the Family, Private Client, Insolvency and Corporate Recovery and Debt Recovery teams.
Other lawyers mentioned and receiving editorial comment in recognition of their legal accomplishments and client feedback include partners and joint heads of the firm’s Commercial Property team, Shilpa Unarkat and Claire Cooper.Dean Parnell, joint head of the Dispute Resolution team also receives comment, as do Senior Associate Ian Sheppard and solicitor Hayley Caprani-Warner, both recognised for their work in contentious probate matters. Lastly but not by any means least, Kirandeep Athwal, senior associate and head of the firm’s personal injury team, is recognised for her compassionate and thorough approach.
Comment on rankings
Karen Moores, Senior Partner, says. “We are delighted that five of our partners have been recognised. For a firm of our size, this is a fantastic achievement.
“Retaining our top-tier ranking in the Legal 500 2026 edition for our Immigration team, along with continued high rankings for our Family, Private Client, Dispute Resolution, and Insolvency practice areas, is truly remarkable and highlights the firm's excellence and dedication across diverse practice areas.
“We could not do this without the support of everyone within the firm. Every member of our team plays an important part”.
Legal 500
For 34 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world, with a comprehensive research programme revised and updated every year to bring the most up-to-date vision of the global legal market.The Legal 500 accesses the strengths of law firms in over 150 jurisdictions and research is based on: feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading practice lawyers, and a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market. All rankings and listings in the 2026 UK edition are available here.
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