‘Team which, in environment, punches well above their weight.’

‘Ben Derrington – great on gritty environmental disputes including waste and water.’

‘The Ashfords team gets to know its clients in a comprehensive and unique fashion. Having got to grips with the client’s business, it is uniquely well-placed to steer the client through the difficulties the case may present. Once the client has experienced Ben Derrington’s attention to detail, they want no one else to fill those shoes.’

‘Ben Derrington is second to none. His knowledge of client businesses goes before him, both in legal circles and in the commercial community. He never ceases to work for his clients and with Ben, they rightly feel looked after in all respects and in the best possible way.’

‘Guy Bastable has greatly strengthened the environmental offering at this firm bringing a huge amount of experience in contentious heavyweight regulatory matters, particularly in the criminal sphere.’

‘Environmental law has been a huge focus for Burges Salmon for many years, and remains so – thier status in the market puts them in the top tier of environmental law practices nationally.’

‘Excellent client focussed service, great team working skills, real added value in both law and strategy.’

‘The Burges Salmon environment team in Bristol is not only the best in the South West but is of national standing and ability. Unlike many firms, their environmental practice is a genuine practice in its own right – not just an adjunct to, for example, planning – and they cover the full range of environmental litigation as a result, including public law, criminal law and regulatory law cases..

‘Michael Barlow – reflective, brave, connected to all parts of the case, strong on both the law and strategy. Clients feel genuinely held by his presence. A steadying influence without being overly cautious.  A genuine resource in the team. Sarah Sackville-Hamilton – wonderful light touch despite being on top of the detail. Really efficient at team management and organisation, encouragement and building team cohesion.’

‘Guy Bastable is like a dog with a bone. He is thorough in his analysis of the problems, measured in his advice and a great team-player. You’d rather have him on your side than be against him. He has a phenomenal ability to recall the detail of a case.’

‘Michael Barlow is an outstanding environmental lawyer, especially for litigation work. I have worked on a number of big contentious cases with him and he leads from the front – not afraid to take big decisions in steering a case and with the judgment and experience of environmental litigation to get those decisions right.’

‘Sarah Sackville Hamilton is excellent – very hard-working and dependable but also insightful and really able to contribute to judgement calls on strategy and tactics.’

‘They have a growing reputation in this field, dealing with some major and high profile environmental disputes for large companies. Practical and with good strength in depth.’

‘Stephen Panton: great technical knowledge, pragmatic and excellent with clients.’

‘Jon Cooper: enormous experience and gravitas.’

‘WBD managed sensitive negotiations, navigating a complicated legal process and developing a detailed understanding of the very technical issue under discussion.’

‘Stephen Panton – very technically strong on litigation process, project management and technical issues.’

‘Good team with spread of expertise on environment and planning.’

‘Neil Baker – gets on with people well and gets the job done with no fuss.’