A North East law firm has beaten some of the biggest names in the UK’s legal sector to take a prestigious industry award.
Newcastle-headquartered Collingwood Legal was named as employment law firm of the year at legal industry ‘bible’ The Legal 500’s 2026 Northern Powerhouse Awards at a special gala event in Leeds.
The award follows on from Collingwood Legal’s founder and managing partner Paul McGowan being named as employment lawyer of the year at last year’s Northern Powerhouse Awards, which celebrate excellence in the legal profession across the North of England, North West and Yorkshire, and recognise the work of outstanding law firms, in-house teams, and individuals.
Founded in 2010, Collingwood Legal is a relationship-based practice which specialises in employment law and has a nine-strong team based at its Newcastle Business Park offices.
It works with a number of well-known public and private sector organisations both within and outside the North East, and has particular expertise in the education, health and manufacturing sectors.
Collingwood Legal has been ranked as a “Top Tier” firm in the Legal 500 every year for the last decade, being hailed by the publication as “widely recognised as the go-to adviser for employers and senior executives across the North,” while several members of its team have been identified as leading practitioners in their field.
The firm offers the full range of employment law services, including advice and training for employers on how to deal with developing workplace issues, such as the recently-enacted Employment Rights Act, which represents the biggest shake-up of employment rights in a generation.
Paul McGowan says: “For the firm to be chosen for this award ahead of practices with national and international standing is testament to the quality of the work that the Collingwood team does and to the wider strength of the North East legal sector.
“Our success is based on our ethos of building long-term relationships with clients and providing them with high quality services which help make their operations more efficient and effective.
“The business need for support around employment law and human resources issues is ever-present and always evolving, as we’re seeing now with the continuing introduction of measures contained within the Employment Rights Act.
“Our role is to ensure businesses have access to expert guidance that will help them manage their workplace responsibilities and staff, and to support and offer the best representation in defending employment claims.
“We’re thrilled to have been chosen as the north’s best employment law firm and focused on continuing to deliver the unsurpassed standards of client service that are the foundations of this achievement.”