A LEGAL practice in Bolton has been ranked as leaders in their field by a highly-regarded industry bible.

Lawyers working at Mawdsley Street-based KBL feature in the latest edition of The Legal 500.

The outfit, which also has offices in Blackburn, has no fewer than nine solicitors singled out as 'names to note' in their respective practice areas.

Management has also highlighted the fact that their family law team has been elevated up a tier, being the only such department locally for "consistently punching above their weight and helping high-net-worth clients to reach complex financial settlements in matrimonial proceedings".

Directory editors also noted: "The practice has a very able and accomplished family department, led by the calm and confident Victoria Melling and ably assisted by Associate Solicitor, Ceri Thomas.

"They have worked together for a significant amount of time as a team – which brings strength to what they offer.

"They support and complement each other in their experience, areas of interest and expertise and are well placed to provide a great local service with a high level of skill and professionalism matching the city firms in Manchester."

Later Ms Melling said: "I am delighted that KBL has received such fantastic coverage – especially on the family law front, which highlights the firm's unrivalled family law expertise and knowledge and the team’s dedication to deliver a first-class service to each and every client."

The firm's commercial litigation team was also lauded for its "commercially orientated" and "client-focused" services.

The directory observed that the head of the department, and one of the firm's partners, Michael Slater, was "tactically astute".

Other departments to notch up high rankings were KBL's employment law section and their corporate and commercial team.

The directory is regarded as one of the largest and most in-depth studies of the profession, with findings based an extensive interviews with solicitors and barristers and feedback gleaned from wide-ranging market research, over the course of the year.