Bircham Dyson Bell appoints lateral to strengthen Water Group

Bircham Dyson Bell (BDB) has appointed John Hurdley as a partner within the specialist Water Group led by Paul Thompson. A recognised leader in this specialist area, Hurdley joins from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) where he had been head of its water practice.

Commenting on John’s appointment Paul Thompson said:

‘We are delighted to welcome John to the firm. He has many years of experience acting for water companies and his skills and knowledge complement those of our existing team. John’s arrival will strengthen our depth of expertise and understanding and also means that we can now field one of the largest legal teams dealing with the water industry in London.’

Bircham Dyson Bell has a long track record of providing legal advice to the water sector including all aspects of water supply, resource and wastewater management, licensing, price control and competition issues and fisheries and flood defence. Given the firm’s expertise in infrastructure authorisation, construction and procurement, it is also currently advising on several large projects which may be actively promoted by various water companies in the future.

John Hurdley commented:

‘The water sector as a whole and the water companies in particular face many challenges going forward, not only in terms of meeting the supply need, but through legislative change, a great deal of which will have implications for how they operate. I am therefore delighted to be joining a firm that has a clear strategic commitment to the sector, and a detailed understanding of the issues and challenges ahead.’

John Hurdley currently acts for a number of clients including Bournemouth and West Hants Water, Cambridge Water, Portsmouth Water and Sutton & East Surrey Water. The Water Group at Bircham Dyson Bell undertakes work for a wide range of interests across the whole of the water sector, including acting for water companies such as South East Water and Southern Water. Our client team led by partner Nick Brown, advising Thames Water, will continue to be involved with this client in ongoing matters in relation to public law and planning.