The Chambers UK Guide 2024 rank the department in Band 2 for both Wales and the West Midlands, saying the following ‘Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors has a highly regarded team with offices across Shropshire, Herefordshire and North Wales. It has expertise in all legal matters that relate to property, family, commercial and disputes encountered by landed estate, agricultural and horticultural clients. It serves farmers and country landowners across the region.’
The following is a strength noted in the 2024 guide: “All departments with this firm of solicitors have been very helpful through the different issues. Contact has been excellent and requests dealt with quickly.”
A source from a previous edition says: “I always find it easy to work with these people. The team is extremely friendly, and this puts clients and other advisers at ease in the meetings. You also have confidence in the advice, so they are a pleasure to work with.”
The 2024 edition of The Legal 500 recognises us as a Top Tier firm in the West Midlands, the directory states: ‘The ‘wonderful‘ team at Lanyon Bowdler is led by Brian Evans and acts for many large agricultural and horticultural clients as well as landed estates. It is an NFU panel firm for Shropshire, Herefordshire and Staffordshire and advises on a variety of issues from property and private client matters to family issues and employment matters. The team receives plaudits too for its work on disputes relating to renewable energy projects, product liability and professional negligence cases involving farmers as claimants. Edward Nutting has been pivotal to the office’s success and connects very well with local clients, not only as a result of his industry knowledge and property law expertise, but also his Welsh language speaking capabilities’.
Testimonials from the 2024 edition of The Legal 500:
‘I found the North Wales team of Lanyon Bowdler to be personable, efficient and effective. It was clear to me immediately that I was in safe hands’.
‘Practice has an excellent understanding of agriculture and the idiosyncrasies of that market’.
Work highlights include:
Advising the Trustees of the Sweeney Estate in connection with ongoing contentious and non-contentious matters relating to the management of the Estate.
Advised on tax planning will for a farming couple with £3m assets (including farming and non-farming assets), advising on APR and BPR and appropriate trusts.
Dealing with administration of an intestate estate worth £1.4m, negotiating a claim for APR with HMRC.
For Wales we are shown in a separate category in The Legal 500 but we are still achieving Tier 2 status. The directory states, ‘The ‘personable, efficient and effective’ team at Lanyon Bowdler continues to thrive in the local market, picking up an ever increasing volume of work for North Walian clients since the formal opening of an office in Conwy in 2019. The ‘very responsive and skilled’ Edward Nutting has been pivotal to the office’s success and connects very well with local clients, not only as a result of his industry knowledge and property law expertise, but also his Welsh language speaking capabilities’.
Work highlights include:
Act for the 12,500 acre Rhug Estate and Glynllifon Estate in North Wales, one of the UK’s most diverse landed estates.
Acting for Robert Wynne Evans in a complex £6m farm sale– involving common land and grazing rights, a hydroelectricity scheme, a holiday cottage, live and dead stock, and dealing with Basic Payment Scheme Entitlements and an agri-environmental scheme.
Acting for Mona Island Dairy Limited in relation to a s106 planning agreement connected with a new £20m cheese factory which will create 100 jobs in Anglesey.