Leigh Day celebrates 10 years of fighting for justice in Manchester

Opened in 2014, the Manchester office is now a cornerstone of the firm's national operations, known as a trusted advocate for clients.

With a growing team of lawyers working in employment law, human rights, clinical negligence, and personal injury, the team has secured significant victories regionally and nationally.

After starting as a team of ten, Leigh Day’s North East Manchester base now has over 280 staff, and a fifth of the firm’s partners. The office in Central Park has also provided significant career opportunities in what has been seen as an under-funded area of the city.

As the official providers of legal support for British Cycling and British Triathlon and their 150,000+ members, the Manchester office was initially opened to enable Leigh Day to expand its cycling-related personal injury work. An office close to the National Cycling Centre and the home of British Cycling was therefore ideal.

Heading up the cycling team in Manchester, Andrew Bradley was joined by Clare Campbell, arriving to head Leigh Day’s now renowned travel team. These teams have secured millions of pounds of compensation for cyclists and people injured whilst travelling abroad. Clare’s team are currently pursuing a landmark claim for compensation for harm caused to Liverpool FC fans after events at the 2022 Champions League final in Paris.

The Manchester legal services offering expanded to employment claims, with Lauren Lougheed joining late 2014 to manage the firm’s equal pay claim against Asda. Lauren was soon joined by Linda Wong to bring equal pay claims on behalf of Sainsbury’s store workers. Mike Cain arrived in 2015, with a focus on individual employment claims. Mike leads a nationwide practice acting for private clients including senior executive claimants. The employment team has celebrated multiple award successes, winning Employment Firm of the Year at the Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Awards, as well as Employment Team of the Year at the Manchester Law Society Legal Awards and at the LexisNexis Awards.

In 2015 leading clinical negligence partner Stephen Jones made the move to launch a specialist Manchester department at Leigh Day. With a long track record of bringing successful cerebral palsy and spinal injury claims, Stephen has consistently secured million pound plus awards for those who have suffered medical negligence. Today, alongside Brendan Hope, Stephen leads an expert team in Manchester. The team was recognised for its success when, along with the personal injury team, they took home Team of the Year at the 2023 Manchester Legal Awards.

Leigh Day’s Manchester asbestos team was introduced in April 2015, marking the firm’s commitment to work with the Greater Manchester Asbestos Support Group in helping the thousands affected by industrial disease. Steven Dickens now heads up the Manchester team and focuses exclusively on asbestos-related disease cases. Steven has over 20 years’ experience in occupational disease, with specialist experience in asbestos and mesothelioma claims.

In just a few years the Manchester office had grown to over 100 staff. Numbers soon grew substantially over lockdown, as the firm continued to take on emissions cases representing tens of thousands of UK vehicle owners.

Most recently, Leigh Day expanded its human rights department to Manchester. Headed by Ryan Bradshaw and Stephanie Hill, the launch brings greater capacity to help people in the North West with claims in discrimination, welfare rights and migrants’ rights.

With human rights at the centre of Leigh Day’s history, Ryan and Stephanie belong to a firmwide team that has successfully championed the rights of thousands of people under the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010.

Today, the team in Manchester works across five departments, with a shared goal fighting injustice and representing society’s most marginalised.

Andrew Bradley, who heads up the Manchester office said:

"I'm incredibly proud of the impact our Manchester team has made over the past ten years. From landmark settlements to holding powerful institutions accountable, we've consistently delivered results that make a real difference to people's lives. I'm excited to see what we can achieve in the next decade, continuing to serve the North West community and fight for justice wherever it's needed.

“We're particularly proud to play a role in supporting the local community by actively recruiting and nurturing legal talent from all areas of Manchester. This allows us to build a team that truly reflects the diversity of the city we serve and brings valuable local perspectives to our work."

Chris Benson, managing partner at Leigh Day, said:

“Manchester is a vibrant and dynamic city, and we're proud to be part of its fabric. We see real potential for further growth in the region, and we're committed to investing in our Manchester team and expanding our expertise to meet the evolving needs of local communities."