Walker Morris announced as finalist for two awards at the Yorkshire Legal Awards
19th July 2019
Walker Morris is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted for both the ‘Commercial Property Award’ and the ‘Intellectual Property Award’ at the 2019 Yorkshire Legal Awards.
The Yorkshire Legal Awards have honoured excellence within the region’s legal profession for the past 19 years and this year’s winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 10 October at New Dock Hall, Leeds.
The announcement comes on the back of strong years for both Teams. The Real Estate team has continued its investment in specialist expertise with five new external appointments last year and the promotion of Steve Nixon to Partner, plus two Director and three Senior Associate promotions. In addition it has continued to advise on some of the largest, innovative commercial property deals in the region including advising Crosslane on its £125m JV with Harrison Street for new student housing developments and advising a Canadian investor on the purchase and funding of both The Cube in Birmingham – the 25 storey 450,000 sq foot mixed use development comprising 135 flats, 111,500 square feet of offices, shops a hotel and a skyline restaurant; and Wembley Central – a cosmopolitan new urban quarter and community hub located close to Wembley Stadium.
The Intellectual Property Team has also had a busy year acting in relation to a wide array of high profile IP matters, including: acting on behalf Warburtons in the defence of a passing off claim brought against it by Associated British Foods Plc in the High Court; assisting with the management and enhancement of the trade mark portfolio of Pipers Crisps in advance of its sale to PepsiCo and continuing to act on behalf of Deckers Outdoor Corporation (owners of the iconic UGG brand) in relation to a variety of disputes involving its designs.
Malcolm Simpson, Managing Partner at Walker Morris commented:
“Being selected as a finalist in these two awards is great news and is testament to our ongoing investment in a number of strategic, business development and HR initiatives which have contributed to our continued development as an independent, high quality and forward-thinking practice. This August we will be relocating to 33 Wellington Street in a move that will be the largest professional services relocation in the city for almost 15 years. The relocation is coupled with a number of ongoing IT infrastructure investments which will enable all our 500 employees to work more collaboratively, use space more efficiently and deliver innovative client services; whether in the office, with clients, or on the move.”
Walker Morris continues to be ranked as a ‘Top Tier Law Firm’ by both Chambers and Legal 500 and is recognised for its multi-disciplinary expertise with 96% of the Firm’s partners are recommended in either directory, placing it in the top 3 of the UK’s top 100 UK law firms for percentage of partners recommended.
