“The team offers professionalism at all times together with an approachable service and level of attention to detail. It has a great team ethic with many strings to its bow.”
“We were very impressed with Michelmores’ abilities to handle very challenging and quite unique legal structuring questions for our schemes. The team has delivered very high-quality work for us.”
“Michelmores is well and long-established as the practice with the best resources and greatest breadth and depth of expertise in this area. Their capacity to conduct work in this area at the highest level is unmatched by any competitors.”
“One of the best teams for this type of work in the country. Strength-in-depth and real understanding of agricultural issues. Great client base and fantastic reputation.”
“One of the leading firms in this practice area, with a number of very experienced solicitors who know a great deal about agricultural disputes.”
“Michelmores is without a shadow of the doubt the most skilled, capable and impressive team of agricultural litigators and non-contentious lawyers in the country. It should be the first port of call for anyone with a rural or agricultural matter that requires specialist and high-quality advice.”
“One of the leading firms in this practice area, with a number of very experienced solicitors who know a great deal about agricultural disputes.”
“It occupies a market-leading position and serves all sorts of agricultural and rural business, large and small. It has a breadth of agricultural specialists that, so far as I am aware, is unrivalled by any other firm.”
“The solicitors are highly specialist. They bring a wealth of expertise in the legal principles often encountered within this area and also a detailed knowledge of the industry itself.”
“Michelmores has the most capable and experienced Agriculture team that I know of in the UK. Its involvement with leading and ground breaking cases gives it a strategic advantage over its competitors and enables it to advise on litigation in a more commercial and enlightened manner.”
“Michelmores LLP is praised for its ‘absolute commitment to the client and doing whatever is needed to get the deal done’.”
Leading agricultural law – through a sustainable lens
With specialist sector insight to the intersection of technology and sustainability, we understand the impact that agriculture and rural businesses have on communities and ecosystems. Consequently, landowners, institutions, farmers, entrepreneurs, agri-businesses and investors trust our expertise and commercial foresight to respond to emerging opportunities and potential challenges.
We invest time in maintaining our position at the forefront of changes and developments in this sector, and put that knowledge and experience at the disposal of our clients as we help with their projects. Those projects include commercial and property disputes, natural capital, agri-tech, planning and the environment, sales and purchases, contract farming, succession planning, taxation, wills and trusts, and tenancy agreements.
Global impact with a down-to-earth approach
Our lawyers are at the forefront of ground-breaking sector initiatives – our team’s unrivalled knowledge, experience and commitment to achieving the best result for our clients is what differentiates us.
Our practice is based upon the foundation of formidable agricultural and rural disputes expertise. Our team has extensive sector knowledge, and unparalleled experience of assisting clients with disputes, which also makes the team well placed to help properly document new ventures, and advise upon the legal aspects of agricultural and rural business.
We act for a wide range of clients including family offices, offshore trusts, charities, landed estates, public bodies, and rural businesses, but we always calibrate our approach to client requirements and expectations. We work closely with colleagues across our Commercial, Corporate, Technology & Innovation, Intellectual Property, Private Wealth, Food & Drink, and Real Estate teams, ensuring that our clients have access to wider specialist knowledge when required.
Ranked as a top tier legal firm by the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, we offer advice on the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious legal issues.
Natural Capital hub
We have looked to collect together publicly available knowledge, and (where we have permission) other sources of knowledge, and provide a Natural Capital hub for information on this growing and diverse topic. To filter articles further please select from the categories’ dropdown list. For example, you may wish to find out more about Triple Bottom Line Reporting or Natural Capital Policy; these options are available as categories and will pull out the relevant articles on these individual topics.
Recent experience
Purchasing a substantial agricultural farming company, which involved a team of 15 lawyers who provided strategic advice on the corporate, planning, environmental, employment, development opportunities, commercial contracts and property matters, which extended to some 2500 acres of farmland, 35 residential properties, commercial lets and joint venture agreements over a further 1500 acres.
Advising the owner of a large estate of nearly 1000 acres as they encountered financial difficulties and went into administration. Specialist insolvency expertise was obtained within the Firm and negotiations were conducted with both the administrator and the tenant. These negotiations resulted in an excellent outcome for the landlord.
Acting for a substantial farming business, who became the subject of a hostile claim for all of their land and business assets. This was a highly complex case, which involved the gathering and preparation of numerous detailed witness statements, recounting events going back over 30 years.
Acting for a £multi-million commercial farming tenant in a dispute with a landlord over the grant and interpretation of a tenancy to a substantial part of the business. This was a high stakes case with possible consequences which were business critical, requiring legal advice at the cutting edge, and a significant team to document the eventual settlement.
Advising on the corporate disposal of a £multi-million commercial farming operation, including advising on complex taxation considerations.
Advising landed estates in connection with the grant and administration of agricultural and sporting tenancies.
Acting for a landed estate in connection with the grant of an option to a quality house builder. The deal included finding alternative farmland for an agricultural tenant and provided for the development of the site in various phases. The landowner was keen to maintain the integrity and high reputation of the estate amongst the local community.
