Energy (excluding oil and gas)

Sarah-Jane McArthur

Sarah-Jane is a versatile lawyer with experience on major project delivery across several sectors including energy, waste, transport, water, education and health. She acts for the public sector, developers, contractors, investors and lenders. She guides clients through the early stages of projects on structuring, procurement and finance including 'first of a kind' projects. She also advises on operational projects including sales and refinance. Her focus in the energy sector is on renewables where she has supported developers, sponsors and banks on windfarms (both onshore and offshore), hydroelectricity, solar, bioenergy and tidal projects. Additionally, she has supported the development of a large number of district heating projects. Sarah-Jane has drafted and negotiated a variety of commercial contracts particularly in the energy and utilities sectors and provides regulatory advice on support schemes and licensing.

Omar Ali

Partner Omar has over 15 years’ experience in the energy sector acting for a variety of developers, landowners and funders in large and small scale renewable energy projects including wind (onshore and offshore), hydro, solar pv and battery storage. Omar also advises clients in relation to grid connection arrangements for energy projects to the transmission and distribution systems in Scotland. Omar has considerable experience in the acquisition and sale of renewable energy projects and regularly carries out due diligence and reporting exercises for a variety of clients including UK and global investment funds. Omar also acts for both funders and borrowers in the financing and re-financing of renewable energy projects and that experience brings a balanced and commercial approach to his advice. Omar is part of Harper Macleod’s Marine Economy Team focussing on offshore wind and marine renewables. Omar was a member of Harper Macleod’s award winning Energy Team of the Year title at 2 previous Scottish Legal Awards. Omar is a founding member of the Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers Association (SEMLA) which was launched in 2017 with the support of the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates. SEMLA focuses on the networking and support of ethnic minority lawyers and law students in Scotland.

David Bone

Senior Partner David has carried out the legal work for developers, landowners or planning authorities on some of Scotland's largest renewable developments including Windy Standard (1996), Novar (1997), Beinn Ghlas (1999), Deucheran Hill (2001), Bowbeat (2002), Crystal Rig (2004), Causeymire (2004), Rothes (2005), Paul's Hill (2006), Steven's Croft (2007), Dalswinton (2008), Green Knowes (2008), North Rhins (2010), Crystal Rig Extension (2010), Mark Hill (2011), Rosehall (2012), Rothes II (2013),Mid Hill (2014), Crystal Rig III (2016) and Brockloch Rig (2017). He also acquired the Afton, Neilston and Solwaybank wind farms for investors and worked on the installation of pv panels on over 500 properties for Knowes and Berwickshire Housing Assocs. The work of David and his team`s has contributed over three gigawatts of built capacity to Scotland's renewable energy targets. He has also assisted on wind, solar and consultancy projects in England, Wales, N. Ireland, France, Chile and Turkey. David is also the lead Partner for Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) in their roll-out of large parts of the National Forest Estate for wind and hydro projects. He acted as legal adviser and company secretary to the Scottish Renewables Forum from 1999 to 2020 (seeing the organisation grow to over 300 members and a position as the leading forum for the Renewables’ industry in Scotland). He has been a non executive director of the Natural Power Consultants since 2008, a member of Scottish Renewables` Wind Working Group and Economics and Markets Working Group, has contributed a host of articles to Industry magazines and spoken at, and chaired, numerous industry conferences, including a series of webinars on the lead-up to COP26, 12 SHREC events, 4 WS Energy conference events, talks at Edinburgh and Stirling Universities and running a successful renewable energy workshop at Glasgow University over 4 years. He as previously described by The Scotsman newspaper as ‘the man acknowledged as Scotland’s authority on renewable energy law’ and he won the prestigious Partner of the Year Award at previous Scottish Legal Awards for his work in Renewable Energy and led the Harper Macleod team to the Energy Team of the Year title at the 2011, 2013 and 2016 Scottish Legal Awards. David writes and speaks extensively on renewable energy in Scotland, including a series of annual reviews on developments in the sector: 2018: Renewables Trump the naysayers as momentum swings in Scotland 2017: A rollercoaster year for renewables in Scotland 2016: A Power Struggle 2015: Can Scotland still drive a renewable future? 2014: Scotland’s renewable energy: what way will the wind blow next?  

Alan Shanks

Alan is head of the Finance and Projects division in Scotland. He is a banking partner specialising in advising clients on financing in the energy sector, including oilfield services, renewable energy, shipping and related services. Alan acts for a number of major companies and financial institutions in the UK and internationally, with particular experience in MENA and Caspian transactions. Alan was a central figure in the establishment of the firm’s Aberdeen office. He previously led HBJ Gateley's Dubai office.