Law firms toast city accolade for lawyer

Published: 18th May 2007

Two Liverpool law firms who work in partnership are celebrating a major accolade for one of their senior lawyers.

One of the leading law firms in the North West, Mace & Jones and its associated firm, Murphy Hodgkinson LLP, are toasting solicitor Karen Murphy, who scooped the title of Liverpool Lawyer of the Year at the 2007 Liverpool Professional Awards ceremony. The prestigious occasion was held at the Crowne Plaza to recognise the achievements of the city's high flyers. The event was hosted by North West Business Insider in association with professionaliverpool and was attended by hundreds of Liverpool's movers and shakers.

Mace & Jones Managing Partner Lawrence Downey said the award was testament to Karen's ability, determination and commitment over a sustained period.

"Karen is a highly able professional, who has worked hard to establish a quality, specialist property law firm in the city," he said. She has built an impressive portfolio of major developer clients, including household names such as Bellway Homes and Barratt Homes and has developed a reputation across the North West house building industry and beyond as one of the premier development lawyers in the region."

Karen was brought up in West Derby and is a former pupil of Broughton Hall School. She lives with her husband, corporate lawyer Ian Hodgkinson and two young children in Christleton in Cheshire. She is the founder member of Murphy Hodgkinson LLP and says there was no hesitation when deciding where to set up her new firm in 2000. It had to be Liverpool. She said:

"I am delighted to have received this award. There is a lot of talent amongst the business and professional community in the city, so the competition was pretty tough. At one time, a lot of local businesses sent their legal work to London and Manchester, but things are clearly changing. The city is attracting bright young professionals and entrepreneurs and these people will play a major part in the city's future success".

Murphy Hodgkinson continues to go from strength to strength, providing legal services in relation to hundreds of millions of pounds worth of property every year. The firm is recommended in the region for specialist development work in the nationally recognized Legal 500 publication, which identifies the top 500 law firms in the United Kingdom. Not content with that, Karen has ambitions to grow the business, but, she says, without compromising the quality of the service it currently provides.

At its inception, Murphy Hodgkinson forged an association with Mace & Jones. Together, the two firms have provided a full legal service to Murphy Hodgkinson's large corporate clients, with Mace & Jones' people working alongside Karen and her property law team to provide Corporate, Construction, Litigation and Employment legal services.