Environmental Lawyers

Helping you to stay compliant with complex environmental legislation.

In this section

From helping businesses to ensure compliance with complex environmental legislation to defending those facing prosecution for alleged offences, our knowledgeable and experienced environmental law team helps clients to navigate all manner of contentious and non-contentious matters.

Issues surrounding the environment have never been more central to the way that businesses operate. Increasingly, concerns about climate change, achieving Net Zero, sustainability and biodiversity drive the policies that underpin the legislation that regulates our way of life.

Failure to comply with environmental law could lead to prison sentences and unlimited criminal fines. Other options available to courts include imposing civil penalties, damages, directors’ disqualification orders and confiscation orders. More than ever before, non-compliance associated with environmental liability can severely damage your brand and reputation among customers, consumers, investors, lenders and employees.

Meet the team

Commercial and common-sense solutions

We act for a wide range of clients, from multinationals and large corporates through to SMEs and individuals. This includes property developers and investors, agricultural and landed estates, private equity firms, institutional lenders, government departments, NHS trusts, port authorities and water undertakers.

Our environment team works closely with colleagues from our corporate and property and construction teams, as well as our retail, manufacturing and supply chain, local government and housing and regeneration specialists. Together, we provide commercial and common-sense solutions and help to close transactions efficiently and collaboratively. We regularly liaise with external environmental consultants to ensure that our clients receive the best possible and most timely technical advice.

We represent clients who:

want to ensure compliance with their legal obligations
receive notices from environmental regulators
face prosecution for alleged environmental offences
wish to judicially review decisions by public bodies.

We are also experienced in acting for regulators and other organisations in the prosecution of environmental offences.

Our team is led by experienced environmental law specialist Rob Biddlecombe — an expert in environmental regulatory issues associated with the built environment, including contaminated land, environmental permits, waste management, water pollution, nuisance and the control of asbestos. He also regularly advises on environmental and sustainability issues affecting supply chains, including producer responsibility, greenwashing, plastic packaging tax, and chemical regulations.