The Legal 500

London: Private client

Agriculture and estates

Within: Agriculture and estates

Burges Salmon LLP  ‘has a long tradition of working in this area', and acts for a wide range of clients, from institutions to private individuals. Tom Hewitt leads the food and farming team and Alastair Morrison is particularly skilled on the transactional side. Hewitt has ‘many years of experience of dealing with complex sales and purchases in a very efficient way’. Jim Aveline  advises a number of farms and landed estates on tax, estates and succession issues. Sian Edmunds acts for various agribusinesses and Kevin Kennedy has a particular focus on agricultural tenancy advice, real property disputes, trust-related disputes as well as contract and tort claims. Emma Folkes leads on a diverse range of transactions involving rural land for institutional investors, registered charities and high-net-worth individuals. The ‘very impressive’ group acts for major clients such as the National Trust, the Crown Estate, the John Lewis Partnership as well as the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

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South West: Private client

Agriculture and estates

Within: Agriculture and estates

Burges Salmon LLP is ‘excellent, with extensive and wide-ranging experience in this area'. Recent highlights include two major transactions in the national land market - sales from The Crown Estate at Dunster (comprising some 9,900 acres) and Gopsall.  Sian Edmunds is a ‘first-rate lawyer and litigator’, who is ‘very client focused, hugely experienced and tenacious’. Edmunds specialises in food regulation, but also handles farming and agribusiness contractual disputes, partnership disputes and agricultural tenancy issues; she acts for John Lewis Partnership/Waitrose, The Crown Estate, Gea Farm Technologies, Ornua Foods and Humphreys Feed. Kevin Kennedy has a national reputation for agricultural and private client advice and litigation, with a particular focus on tenancy advice, real property disputes, trust-related disputes and contract and tort claims; his clients include The Crown Estate, The National Trust, and Peel Group. Jim Aveline is a ‘brilliant private client and trust specialist’, and recently advised on a £30m succession plan for a 3,000-cow Dorset dairy farm. The ‘enormously bright’ associate Maddie Dunn is ‘one to watch’. New clients include Worcestershire County Council and the Environment Agency. Tom Hewitt heads up the food and farming as well as estates teams. With her ‘wealth of experience and technical knowledge’, Emma Folkes was made partner in May 2017; she specialises in non-contentious rural property, advising The Crown Estate's Rural Portfolio (for which the firm is sole legal advisor), the National Trust, and The Woodland Trust.

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Personal tax, trusts and probate

Within: Personal tax, trusts and probate

Burges Salmon LLP is indisputably ‘excellent’. Practice head John Barnett is ‘technically outstanding’ and provides tax advice to a wide range of high-net-worth individuals and many leading banks, including those not domiciled in the UK or with overseas interests. Barnett also works with entrepreneurial clients, including those non-domiciled in the UK or with overseas interests. Suzanna Harvey is another key name and she recently advised an ultra-high-net-worth individual on a wide-ranging HMRC enquiry - a cross-border matter involving UK, Guernsey, Barbados, and Switzerland. The ‘exceptional and proactive’ Beatrice Puoti is advising on a £500m offshore trust; and Jim Aveline is acting for a family business holding land and investments worth £175m, as well as advising on family trusts owning a major shopping centre worth £100m. Senior associate Catherine de Maid advises trust companies on likely risk areas, assists on matters with a South African connection, and advises on philanthropic issues.

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