United Kingdom - Scotland • Projects, energy and natural resources
Burness Paull LLP
Burness Paull LLP is especially well regarded for its skill regarding public sector projects, where in addition to significant projects for NHS Lothian and hub West, the firm has been sought after by the Scottish Futures Trust to advise on template drafting and project structures, recently developing standard form documentation in relation to public electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Gavin Paton is a key figure, regularly handling secondary market sales and purchases on project finance deals; Andrew Little was promoted to partner in August 2022 and is an accredited specialist in construction law, while director Chris Horsley has extensive expertise in projects, energy and commercial contracts. James Forbes is adept at handling large capital infrastructure projects and is active across a number of sectors including education, waste, roads and healthcare. Former team head Chris MacKay retired in January 2023.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'We have worked with the Burness team for a number of years, and their expertise and knowledge of our business makes their contribution invaluable.'
- 'The key experience we rely on is dispute Resolution, and the Burness team are particularly strong in developing strategies with us to minimise the commercial impact to our business.'
- 'Experience and knowledge of our business are the key attributes that we have sought from Burness.'
- 'James Forbes' understanding of our business goals has been a significant benefit to us.'
- 'Chris Horsley's experience and guidance on dealing with shareholders and creditors cannot be underestimated.'
Key clients
- NHS Lothian
- Perth & Kinross Council
- Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- hub West Scotland Limited
- Albany Infrastructure Management
- Scottish Futures Trust Limited
- Scot Roads Partnership Project Limited
- Scottish Enterprise
- University of St Andrews
- Galliford Try Construction (UK) Limited / FM
- Graham Construction
- Ancala Water Services
- Van Oord
- Highland Spring Limited
- Fraserburgh Harbour Commissioners
- Port of Cromarty Firth
- Welsh Government
- Wilmington Trust (London) Limited
Work highlights
- Acting for long-standing client Scottish Futures Trust, national infrastructure centre of expertise, on developing standard form documentation (including contracts between Local Authorities wishing to collaborate on projects and between Local Authorities and Private Sector Contractors) for its Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure funding programme.
- Advising Port of Cromarty Firth on the £31m Phase 4 development of Invergordon Service Base and Phase 5 to invest around £150m plan in developing additional infrastructure to effectively double the size of its existing capacity to meet the huge rise in renewable energy needs.
- Advising hub West Scotland on a phased Design and Build Development Agreement (DBDA) project to develop a new North East Health Hub on a site near Parkhead, Glasgow.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Gavin Paton, Chris Horsley, Andrew Little