Reading: Boyes Turner praises partner on retirement

Partners at  Reading-based law firm Boyes Turner have praised the contribution to the firm by Chris Branson, partner in the insolvency team, as he retired this week. Branson joined Boyes Turner in 1988.

Bill Gornall-King, partner, said: “Chris has played a very large and influential role in the development of Boyes Turner from the modest but young, dynamic and ambitious Reading law firm of the 1980s into the leading regional law firm that it is today. His legacy will be the firm’s top drawer insolvency practice and its national reputation.”

One of the insolvency reforms of the 1980s was to introduce the regulation of the practice of insolvency. As a mark of professional standing, a number of lawyers applied to become Licensed Insolvency Practitioners and Branson was at the forefront, becoming an LIP in 1989. He became active in SPI (the Society of Practitioners of Insolvency) now known as R3, of which he has been an active supporter regionally. Branson also served on the Insolvency Court Users Committee for 14 years, following its establishment in 2001.

Recognition for Branson has also come in the legal directories’ write-ups of him and his team over the years. He is the only corporate recovery lawyer in the region to have been ranked as "Best in Class" for over 20 years by both Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession and The Legal 500. He has been highlighted in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame as an individual who has received constant praise by his clients for continued excellence. He is also ranked in Band 1 in Chambers UK – Restructuring/Insolvency: Personal Insolvency UK wide and is the only lawyer in the Thames Valley to be recognised in the top tier.