Irwin Mitchell has a particular focus on representing clients in the financial services, consumer, tech and manufacturing sectors. Ailsa Anderson, who leads the team, acts in a broad range of domestic and cross-border commercial disputes, including shareholder disputes, procurement claims, contractual issues and restrictive covenant cases. Duncan Hope departed the firm in March 2023 to join Hill Dickinson LLP, while Simon Lester joined the team in February 2024 from Davis Woolfe.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘A strong team which is well versed in complex commercial litigation.’

  • ‘I was very impressed by Ailsa Anderson. Ailsa had a fantastic grasp of the commercial and personal dynamics underpinning the matter, and always added value to the case in all of our interactions.’

Work highlights

  • Acting for a number of directors in the defence of intimated claims with a value of $157m by insolvency practitioners.
  • Acting on behalf of a bank in a personal guarantee claim with a value of circa ¥362m.
  • Acting for a service provider in a multi-million pound procurement dispute with an NHS Trust regarding a procurement process conducted under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Ailsa Anderson

Other key lawyers

Simon Lester