England - North West • Dispute resolution
Weightmans LLP
Weightmans LLP specialises in debt recovery for the public sector, notably representing the Cabinet Office as well as a number of local councils and CLGs like the Motor Insurers’ Bureau. The firm also represents a range of private sector clients, particularly in heavy industries such as energy and steel. The team is jointly led by experienced litigator and trained mediator Andrew Cox, consultant public sector debt recovery and defended actions expert Mark Burch and insolvency specialist Benjamin Davies. The group was bolstered by the arrival of John Quicler, who contributes his vast expertise in banking and finance litigation.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Weightmans are committed to enhancing the customer journey and recognise that for many customers, entering into claims and/or litigation can be a daunting process, and they ensure that customers are treated with empathy and care.'
‘Each of the individuals we work closely with at Weightmans are always fully focused on finding the right outcomes for our customers and will always ensure the customer is at the heart of everything we do, in line with our company principles.’
‘The staff are always professional, helpful and knowledgeable and give very precise advice.’
‘Excellent success rate at which it has recovered debts for our organisation. The practice provides advice and an approach to recovering debts which it has tailored to our organisations requirements. The way that the practice keeps us as the client updated at each stage of the debts recovery has been invaluable.’
‘Our organisation has worked with Mark Burch over the last 18 months. Marks professionalism, advice and drive has transformed how our organisation has pursued its debts. Mark has been responsible for the successful recovery of our organisations debts.’
‘We have using the Debt Recovery services of Weightmans LLP for over 10 years and have been very satisfied with every aspect of the Debt Recovery process they have carried out.’
‘We have been dealing mostly with Mark Burch and have been very satisfied with the level of service he has provided during the past 10 years and the previous 20 years before that with other law firms.’
‘They handle all our queries and reply with the way forward in a very timely manner. They have very good use of and access to efficient technology.’
Key clients
- Motor Insurers’ Bureau
- Johnsons Textile Services Limited
- The Cabinet Office
- E.ON Energy Solutions Limited
- Hillfoot Steel Limited
- Sovini Group Companies
- Murray Plate Group Limited
- Selby District Council
- NWF Agriculture Limited
- Specific & General Services Limited
- Radius Payment Solutions Limited/UK Fuels Limited
- NWF Fuels Limited
- Jones Lang LaSalle
- Deralam Laminates Limited
- Davis Coffer Lyons Limited
- Liverpool City Council
Work highlights
- Acting for the MIB under a Service Legal Agreement to recover monies (paid out under the Uninsured Drivers Agreement) from uninsured drivers.
- Provides Murray Metals with ongoing debt recovery requirements.
- Provides debt recovery services to the Cabinet Office, recovering overpayments of civil service pensions from members of the Civil Service Pension scheme and/or the Estates of former members.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Mark joined Weightmans in 2014 as the then Head of Commercial Recoveries. He has previously been an in-house lawyer at Barclays Bank plc, Head of Regional Debt Recovery for Eversheds and, prior to joining Weightmans, worked within the Debt team at Pannone. Mark has experience of handling secured and unsecured public and private sector volume debt recovery, particularly complex defended actions, but now specialises in the use of insolvency procedures (Winding up petitions and Bankruptcy petitions) to assist in the collection of debt. He also has considerable experience of marketing, client care and management issues associated with volume debt collection within law firms. Mark brought with him a very loyal commercial client base which includes the Radius Group of companies, Murray Metals Group companies, the NWF Group and companies within the Johnsons Group, all of whom he still acts for today. Mark also represents a number of debt collection agencies who are well known members of the Credit Services Association. He also acts for a number of local authorities who utilise his knowledge and expertise in insolvency to collect various taxes and other debts. Mark has been recognised as a leader in the field of debt recovery and noted as such in both The Legal 500 and The Chambers UK Guide. He has provided clients with training on all aspects of the cost-effective use of the legal process in the credit/collections arena. He has recently acted as an invited expert on a Liverpool BPC course, involving His Honour Judge Neil Cadwallader and District Judge Samantha Johnson.
Head of Service Delivery, Litigation Department. Types of work include contractual disputes, financial sector litigation, property litigation, and general commercial litigation.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Andrew Cox, Mark Burch, Benjamin Davies