David Watkins > Linklaters LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Linklaters LLP Offices
ONE SILK STREET
LONDON
EC2Y 8HQ
England
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David Watkins
Work Department
Planning
Position
As head of the firm’s planning team, David has significant experience in all aspects of town planning and development activity. His experience includes negotiating planning permissions for large and complex projects, co-ordinating major public inquiries, and obtaining all planning consents, as well as having in-depth knowledge of compulsory purchase orders, road closure orders and statutory agreements. He is well known for his planning successes involving mixed use developments.
Since the early 1990’s David has been heavily involved in advising clients on securing permission to build a series of tall buildings in the City of London, which has changed the face of the City and led to the development of tall buildings in other areas of London.
Work highlights
David has led on a wide range of the market’s most prominent planning applications. These include advising:
- Aroland Holdings on the development of a 300m tall building to be known as 1 Undershaft on the site of the Aviva Tower, which, when completed, will be the City of London’s tallest skyscraper
- Bloomberg on the redevelopment of the three-acre site comprising Bucklersbury House, Walbrook, London to create two new buildings
- British Land on the redevelopment of 122 Leadenhall Street as a 48-storey, 220m tower in the City of London
- British Museum on the redevelopment of the northwest corner of the Museum’s Grade I listed Bloomsbury Estate to provide a World Conservation and Exhibition Centre comprising five interconnected glazed pavilions
- Great Portland Estates on the redevelopment of Rathbone Place, a 2.5-acre site adjacent to Oxford Street to create a new mixed use development
- Grosvenor and Native Land as joint developers of Neo Bankside (next to Tate Modern Gallery) involving the construction of five new buildings with mixed retail/residential use
Career
Partner, Linklaters, 1997 to date
Memberships
David wrote the chapter on planning in the Guide to Specification, published by the British Council for Offices, 2014.
Education
David studied law at Edinburgh University.
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Acquisition finance
- Finance > Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Risk advisory > Corporate governance
- Finance > Corporate restructuring & insolvency
- Risk advisory > Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity
- Finance > Debt capital markets
- Finance > Derivatives and structured products
- Industry focus > Emerging markets
- Employment > Employee share schemes
- Employment > Employers
- Real estate > Environment
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – mid-large cap
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Fintech
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: M&A and acquisition financing
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Infrastructure: Project finance and development
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Upper Mid-Market And Premium Deals, £750m+
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Mining and minerals
- Employment > Pensions (non-contentious)
- Employment > Pensions: dispute resolution
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Power (including electricity, nuclear and renewables)
- Transport > Rail
- Investment fund formation and management > Real estate funds
- Finance > Securitisation
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Water
Firm Rankings
- Corporate and commercial > Commercial contracts
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Finance > High yield
- Insurance > Insurance: corporate and regulatory
- Industry focus > Life sciences and healthcare
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Oil and gas
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions – high-value deals (£250m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private funds
- Real estate > Property finance
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- Finance > Trade finance
- Public sector > Administrative and public law
- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: patents (contentious and non-contentious)
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Dispute resolution > Public international law
- Industry focus > Retail and consumer
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- Finance > Transport finance and leasing
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport
- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers