Judge & Priestley LLP, the Bromley based solicitors practice, has been recommended as a top-tier firm for Debt Recovery in the 2020 edition of the prestigious Legal 500 awards.
J&P Credit Solutions (J&P C S), the specialist debt recovery division of Judge & Priestley LLP, has been rising up the Legal 500 rankings in recent years and was promoted to the top tier for 2020, after the Legal 500 adjudicators received a further set of glowing reports and recommendations from its increasingly wide ranging customer base.
J&P C S delivers a comprehensive range of debt recovery services and solutions across the full debt life cycle, as well as providing a subrogated loss recovery service to several of the country’s leading insurance providers. The division is split into three departments, comprising of the Legal team, the pre-legal Collections team and the Insurance team.
Led by solicitor Partners Rachel Addai and Uday Patel, the Legal team is central to the Legal 500 ranking. The team supports a wide range of clients, delivering bespoke recovery strategies and services covering compliance with the Pre-action protocol, court claims and their enforcement, defended claims, complex claims and insolvency / bankruptcy matters.
The Legal team has a strong reputation for its expertise in public sector debt recovery and is a registered Crown Commercial Service supplier for legal debt recovery services. The team works with 16 local authorities / public sector bodies across London, the South East and Midlands, to recover a wide range of debt types. Growth has been especially strong in niche product areas such as adult social care debt, deceased debtors and infrastructure levy debts, all areas notable for the often complex and/or sensitive nature of the work involved.
More generally, commercial clients come from a wide variety of sectors including utilities, finance, security, professional services and publishing. Private sector clients are varied in size from sole traders and SMEs to large multi-national corporations.
J&P C S has also invested significantly in creating a pre-legal Collections team capable of competing with the major players in the pre-legal market. The continued success and growth of the overall business has been assisted by being able to offer a one stop shop for debt recovery that is gaining increasing favour across a number of markets.
The Insurance team, dealing with the recovery of subrogated insurance losses, acts for some of the largest UK insurers, as well as dealing with dedicated legal expense insurers, brokers, and fleet management companies. While the firm’s largest clients are currently motor insurers, there is a growing portfolio of work relating to household insurance and property damage claims.
Growth across the division continues to be good, in an ever more competitive and price sensitive operating environment. Turnover in the last financial year grew by over 5%. This is the seventh consecutive year of growth, which has seen the department turnover increase by 88% over the period.
Presenting their findings on J&P Credit Solutions, The Legal 500 stated that:
Judge & Priestley LLP have 'a great depth of experience' in debt recovery, enforcement actions and also provide a subrogated recovery service for insurance companies. The firm serves a broad client roster including local authorities, utilities companies, financial and professional service providers and leading insurers… Key figures in this sizable group include Mark Oakley for service charge recovery, Rachel Addai for local authority and insolvency-related matters, and Uday Patel for commercial debt claims.”
Mark Oakley and Rachel Addai have both been recommended in the Legal 500 2020 as leading debt recovery solicitors and Uday Patel has been listed as a Next Generation Partner.
Rachel Addai Head of Debt Recovery commented “I am delighted to see the firm is now recognised in tier 1 for Debt Recovery. This recognition reflects the investment we have made over the years, particularly in bringing in a talented group of dynamic solicitors and legal executives who have ensured we can deliver the expertise our clients require. We have also continued to focus on ensuring the sustained growth of our Collections Team, which allows us to partner with clients to recover their debts from the earliest possible point. We have an array of knowledge and experience at top-level management that makes the firm uniquely placed to meet all the demands of our clients. We continue to invest in technology to drive operational efficiency, to maximize our engagement with customers and to effectively recover debt, whilst treating customers fairly and ensuring the customer journey is consistent with our client’s and regulatory requirements. I would like to thank our clients who have recommended us and given feedback to the Legal 500 researchers enabling us to reach tier a rank 1 status this year.”
Other testimonials published by the Legal 500 as part of the rankings include:
- 'Judge & Priestley have a great depth of experience within their teams in respect of leasehold issues and service charges. There is very good communication from the team. They respond very quickly when we have urgent cases that require assistance.'
- 'I find Judge & Priestley to be a very reliable law firm, they are always on hand to give me advice and guidance with any questions or queries I may have. They are always speedy with their responses and often follow up after the advice has been given which is appreciated.'
- 'Mark Oakley provides excellent support, has excellent skills and knowledge when it comes to complex leasehold cases. Any legal advice requested is provided on time, is very clear and covers the topic in depth with clear explanations of the case law.'
- 'Uday Patel is fantastic, his level of knowledge on our industry is outstanding and I know I can trust the advice he gives me.'
For more information please contact Nita Newsome: nnewsome@judge-priestley.co.uk or visit Our People.
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