Howard & Byrne in bid for national award

The Legal 500, a nationally respected legal directory, has named Howard & Byrne as the Yorkshire and Humber entry in the shortlist for its 2019 crime, fraud and licensing regional firm award.

The criminal defence specialists are one of eight on the shortlist, each from a different region outside London. London firms have a separate identical category.

Howard & Byrne partner Kevin Blount said: "We are shortlisted as the leading firm in Yorkshire and Humber, a huge honour to be singled out in such a large region, with a vibrant legal profession.

"It is a real testament to the hard work of all our team to receive recognition in this way, especially coming straight after our success at the Yorkshire Legal Awards."

He said Howard & Byrne had a unique mix of casework.

"As well as being the largest criminal defence firm based in North Yorkshire, we also have a national and international reputation. "Our firm represents local people before North Yorkshire courts every day, but we also act in national investigations, multi-million pound fraud trials, and international bribery and corruption and fraud cases," he said.

"We have experience of representing clients throughout Europe, the US, Middle East, and Russia."

The directory carried out more than 50,000 interviews before drawing up the shortlists of more than 60 categories for solicitors' firms and individual solicitors representing a wide range of legal specialities.

The national winners will be announced at The Guildhall, London, in February.

The nomination is the latest recognition for Howard & Byrne. In October, it won the Yorkshire Legal Awards criminal law category.

It was also included in both the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories for the eighth successive year and senior partner Colin Byrne was listed by both as a leading practitioner.

Both directories only list firms and solicitors they regard as market leaders in their field.