Lisa Linklater KC welcomes official opening of new Business and Property Courts in Leeds
December 13, 2024
Lisa Linklater KC from Exchange Chambers has warmly welcomed the recent official opening of the new Business and Property Courts in Leeds and Leeds Employment Tribunals at West Gate, Leeds.
In a boost to the city’s and the North of England’s legal infrastructure, the new courts centre contains four new Business and Property courtrooms with eight consultation rooms and outstanding complementary IT facilities, alongside eight new employment tribunal rooms to deal with disputes. The new centre will bolster the Business and Property Courts, supporting quicker resolutions for disputes in areas critical to the economy, such as commercial contracts, property rights, and employment law.
Lisa Linklater KC attended the opening as a guest in her capacity as Vice-Chair of the Northern Business and Property Bar Association, a member of the Leeds Business and Property Courts Facilities Steering Committee and member of the Leeds Business and Property Courts Forum committee. She described it as a “wonderful, momentous and enjoyable occasion; it was an honour to attend”. The new centre was opened by the Lady Chief Justice and Heidi Alexander MP, then Minister for Court and Legal Services, now Secretary of State for Transport.
Lisa believes the new centre is “fantastic news for clients and legal services across the North of England, particularly in Leeds, Yorkshire and the Humber. The new facilities will benefit businesses, individuals and public sector bodies resolving their disputes in the Business and Property Courts in Leeds”.
As a member of the Leeds Business and Property Courts Facilities Steering Committee, Lisa was part of a small group of practitioners in Leeds, which included partners and senior solicitors from regional, national and international law firms, as well as barristers from Chambers in Leeds, including the Leader of the North Eastern Circuit.
“Over the past four years we have worked tirelessly with the legal and business community in Leeds and Yorkshire in particular and received valuable support and advice from many sources to make the case for the new centre. We are extremely appreciative of the fantastic court facilities and continued engagement by HM Courts and Tribunals Service with practitioners,” explained Lisa. “I have thoroughly enjoyed taking a hands-on role in the project and investing time in building positive working relationships with many stakeholders. We are very appreciative of the resource, time, support, leadership and expertise that a very wide range of people have dedicated to making this vision a reality.”
Since taking silk in March 2022, Lisa’s own practice has continued to attract national recognition. Her expertise covers high value and often high profile, legally and factually complex shareholder, LLP, joint venture and partnership disputes, corporate insolvency, commercial fraud, commercial contract and commercial litigation in the Business and Property Courts of the High Court of Justice, as well as appellate advocacy in those fields of practice. The strength of Lisa’s practice has been recognised by the independent legal directories in their latest rankings. In the Chambers UK Bar Guide 2025, Lisa is recognised as a Tier 1 silk in 3 practice areas – Commercial Dispute Resolution, Chancery and Restructuring / Insolvency.
Having built a thriving specialist Business and Property Courts practice from Leeds over the past 25 years, Lisa continued:
“It is tremendous that the clients we represent and instructing solicitors we work with now have access to very well resourced, specialist court facilities in Leeds, close to their businesses and offices. These courtrooms are suitable for the most complex and valuable litigation both domestic and international in nature. No case is too big to be tried in the regions.”
A link to highlights from the opening ceremony is here: https://x.com/hmctsgovuk/status/1851954377709273542?s=48
