UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has boosted its rural practice with the appointment of three rural lawyers to its Aberdeen office, including one of the North East’s leaders in rural law, Hamish Lean.
Top ranked in his field by the leading independent legal directories: Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500, Hamish Lean is highly regarded for his experience and depth of knowledge of rural and agricultural matters.
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Thoroughly immersed in the sector, Lean is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a Specialist in Agricultural Law, and he sits on the Law Society of Scotland’s Rural Affairs Committee, the NFUS Legal and Technical Committee and is a member of the Scottish Agricultural Arbiters and Valuers Association. He is also a Trustee of RSABI, Scotland’s leading agricultural charity.
Joining Hamish are Senior Associate, Emma Robertson and Solicitor, Alex Smith. Emma has more than 15 years’ experience in the agricultural and rural law sector acting for landowners and tenants, and in onshore renewable energy supporting developers and landowners.
Emma advises on all aspects of agricultural tenancies, and acts for landowners in the purchase and sale of estates, farms and other rural properties. In renewables, she advises landowners and developers on a wide variety of projects including wind turbine developments, hydro schemes and biomass systems.
Emma is a member of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen.
Alex’s areas of work include rural property sales and purchases, renewable energy projects, agricultural tenancies and some commercial property transactions.
Hamish Lean said: “The comprehensive firm-wide support and resources of Shepherd and Wedderburn will undoubtedly better equip Emma, Alex and myself to help clients meet the tough and challenging times ahead. We are delighted to be joining the firm.”
All three appointments take effect from 3 April, coming within three months of the firm announcing its acquisition of the Commercial Law Practice (CLP), an independent business law firm, which has operated in Aberdeen and surrounding areas for more than 20 years.
Shepherd and Wedderburn, Chief Executive, Stephen Gibb, said: “The appointments of Hamish, Emma and Alex represent a major development in the success story of our rural practice, and together with our acquisition of CLP and the hires of senior corporate specialist John Rutherford and leading private client lawyer Charles Scott, it opens a new chapter for the firm in the north east. Our clients’ interests are diverse, spanning litigation; planning, banking & finance, corporate, commercial real estate, estates; forestry; farming; energy; leisure; mining; and marine. These hires mean that Shepherd and Wedderburn is both technically and geographically equipped to support our rural and private clients right across Scotland.”
