Taylor Wessing strengthens Real Estate offering with the hire of Planning expert from CMS Cameron McKenna

European law firm Taylor Wessing LLP has announced the appointment of Alistair Watson. Alistair will join the Firm on 22 February as a Partner in the Real Estate group, where he will be Head of Planning & Environment.

Alistair comes to Taylor Wessing from CMS Cameron McKenna.  He has an exceptionally strong record in planning, development and infrastructure projects, and works with leading institutions and investment companies, developers, funders, infrastructure providers, and PPP/PFI ventures.  He also has extensive experience in promoting projects that incorporate clean technology into the design and operation of buildings.

Taylor Wessing’s Real Estate group brings together experts from across the Firm's offices in the UK, Germany and France. Alistair will be heading up a specialist team of lawyers within that group providing the full range of services relating to planning and environment issues. This experience is key, not only to Taylor Wessing's Real Estate, Construction and Projects practices, but also as a vital part of the Firm's award winning sustainability initiative [please refer to notes to editors for details of past and forthcoming developments].

Head of Real Estate, Keith Barnett, says:

"Alistair's recruitment will help us maintain and improve our full range of services to real estate, project and construction clients; and provides us with further strong resource to continue the development of our award winning sustainability and climate change initiatives."

Alistair says:

"The Real Estate group works with first class clients, and the Firm leads the way in a range of practice areas and industry sectors, including cleantech and sustainability.  I'm delighted to be joining Taylor Wessing."

Ends

Lawyers Keith Barnett, Alistair Watson

Notes to editors

For more information please contact Sarah le Cheminant at Taylor Wessing:

Tel: +44 (0)20 7300 4930
Email: s.lecheminant@taylorwessing.com

Taylor Wessing LLP is a leading law firm providing support for commercial organisations doing business in Europe, the Middle East and China.

Sustainability Initiative
When published in January 2009, Taylor Wessing's Sustainability Report, Behind the Green Façade, represented the largest ever survey of the UK development industry’s awareness of and attitudes towards the ‘sustainability agenda’. The initiative won two awards in 2009, including the prestigious ‘Victor Ludorum’ Award, at The Property Marketing Awards 2009. The Sustainability Report was constructed on the basis of six month's of research into the development industry’s views and attitudes towards environmental policy issues and legislation, involving detailed responses from 800 individuals as well as 550 companies, organisations and universities drawn from an initial target list of almost 6000. A copy of the Report can be downloaded here: http://www.taylorwessing.com/sustainability/.
Since the publication of this report, regulatory compliance, ever-increasing political interest and the resultant rising focus by private companies on sustainability issues has prompted our second, even more extensive survey and analysis of the industry's developing attitudes to this area.
In Hitting the Green Wall and Beyond, available soon, we look at the sustainability issues to be overcome by those involved in the development industry, as well as the programmes relevant to it and the practical commitments to sustainability that those involved have made, or will have to make moving forward.
In conjunction with the British Property Federation and our research partners, Spada, Taylor Wessing has pushed on further from its position at the beginning of 2009, providing guidance to our clients but also supplying market-leading intelligence to the industry, as well as encouraging the ongoing debate. This new survey was constructed using a specifically targeted database of over 7,000 individuals, including all members of the British Property Federation.

Climate Change Initiative
Taylor Wessing has been at the forefront of the battle against climate change for a number of years. We have not only provided expert legal advice in a number of key areas such as clean technologies, renewable energy, environmental planning and emissions trading, but we have consistently worked to minimise the impact our own business has on the environment.
Our climate change capability runs throughout the firm. Our group brings together lawyers from across our international offices spanning the Middle East and China as well as the UK, Germany, France and Belgium. We act across the full spectrum of activities from cleantech investment to fully commercialised projects.
Our history in the climate change field means that we have established a leadership position, winning market recognition through innovative market studies on cleantech and sustainability and high-profile awards in sustainability.
Climate change also informs the way we operate our business and we strive to protect the environment by concentrating on how our business impacts the environment around us. We have implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) and have been awarded the internationally accepted standard, ISO 14001, further to certification by the BSI British Standards that our EMS is effective - the first law firm in the UK to achieve this.

Taylor Wessing’s Real Estate group brings together specialist teams of lawyers across Europe, including the UK, Germany and France, offering a unique depth of service and experience. It has the capacity, experience and capability to advise commercially on all clients' real estate needs domestically and internationally, including owner-occupier work and a leading focus on development and investment, as well as management issues. Property, Tax and Corporate specialists regularly combine to satisfy clients' needs for efficient corporate and tax structures that deliver maximum profit. Real Estate Finance is a further, leading component of the practice, while the Firm is also at the head of the real estate market's consideration of issues relating to sustainability.
Working together with colleagues in Real Estate Disputes, Contentious and Non-contentious Construction, Environment and Planning and Corporate, the Real Estate group works as one on complex transactions. These range from major town centre and mixed-use urban redevelopments, comprising elements of retail, offices, leisure and transport provision, and City landmark redevelopment through to hotel projects and land assembly schemes. The Real Estate Disputes team deals with all such matters arising in relation to leasehold and freehold land, sale and purchase agreements and development agreements, as well as putting together and implementing land clearance strategies for developers.

Lead clients of the Real Estate practice include: Prestbury, MWB, Canada Life, Brookfield, AWG, Heron, Axa and Capital & Regional.