Nick is consistently recognised as a leading individual for Environmental Law by The Legal 500, Chambers, London Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers™ in the United Kingdom, Who’s Who Legal for Environmental Lawyers, and for Climate Change.
- Chambers UK 2020: “has a great can-do attitude and is very good at marrying business objectives with the law”. " very thoughtful … a clear understanding of law across all disciplines…"
- Chambers UK 2019: “superb”
- Legal 500 UK 2019: “incredibly knowledgeable and commercial”
- Chambers UK 2018: "thoughtful, articulate and a good negotiator in the sense that he can take a hard-line position but does so in an inoffensive way. He has an uncanny ability to pick up on points that no one else seems to have thought about."
- Chambers UK 2017: "highly skilled lawyer, tactician and negotiator" can "turn his hand to unusual issues and find a commercial solution." "highly knowledgeable and astute regarding the interconnection between environmental matters and commercial issues."
- Legal 500 2017: “a very thoughtful and strategic approach”
- Chambers UK 2016: “a very thoughtful and strategic approach” and leading a “result-driven” practice
- Legal 500 2016: "sensible and level-headed operator who is on top of what he is doing."
- Legal 500 UK 2015 “a good strategist with an eye for detail, but able to keep perspective on the bigger picture”
- Chambers UK 2015: “He has a ready grasp of the legal, commercial and tactical issues”
- Chambers UK 2014: “Clients note his focus on providing a personal service, and say ‘he is a first-class intellect and a very good lawyer’.”
- Chambers UK 2011 "Singled out by sources for "his responsiveness and commercially astute advice."
- Legal 500 Directory 2010: ‘outstanding’ ‘an extremely competent draftsman, and a persuasive, but fair, negotiator’
- Chambers UK 2010: "He is an excellent negotiator who is very effective at achieving great results."
- Chambers UK 2009 "Wins praise for "business-oriented outlook" and ability to "quickly distinguish what is important and what isn't"
- Chambers UK 2007 “Exudes “star quality” ... “an invaluable sounding board…a tough negotiator”
Nick has over 25 years' experience of handling the environmental, health & safety aspects of complex commercial transactions, disputes and large projects, particularly in the on and off-shore energy and natural resources, chemicals and technology sectors. He has acted for developers, operators, lenders, private equity investors and others in the development, disposal, acquisition, financing and/or decommissioning of power stations and related infrastructure, wind, solar, biomass, bioliquids and biofuels facilities, oil refineries, petrochemicals facilities, mines, paper mills, manufacturing facilities, landfill sites, waste transfer stations and recycling plants.
Nick also leads the firm’s EU Product Regulatory practice, and has a wealth of experience in the EU regulatory aspects of bringing a new product to market, through eco-design, production, importation, distribution and supply, to managing product risk, liability and recall to end-of-life take back across a wide range of sectors. He is an acknowledged expert in eco-design, circular economy, e-waste, product liability and recall, as well as all aspects of EU chemicals (REACH, CLP, Biocides etc.).
He also has extensive experience of handling soil, water, air quality and natural habitat pollution issues, permitting issues, environmental impact assessments, waste management issues and in the remediation and redevelopment of large brown-field sites.
Nick is also an acknowledged expert in climate change law and practice. He has advised many companies on their participation in the regulated and voluntary carbon markets, including in particular the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, CDM, JI and Upstream emissions reductions projects as well as numerous ERPA disputes and other emissions trading litigation.
A litigator by background, on the contentious side, Nick also handles civil, criminal and administrative environmental and climate change disputes including defence of “toxic tort” cases, product liability and recalls, emergency response situations, defence of and judicial review of the acts of environmental and health & safety regulators and carbon trading disputes.
Examples of Nick’s experience are set out in the ‘Experience’ tab under relevant subject matter headings.
