Environmental Law

From drafting your environmental strategy and helping you understand your ‘net zero’ commitments to providing an incident response and defending you in prosecutions, we’re the proactive environmental law partner you need.

Environmental Lawyer

Key contact

Aled Owen

  • Partner, Agriculture, Environment and Regulatory

I’ve handled numerous high profile cases, and I know how to react quickly, managing the legal issues as well as the battle for public opinion that often ensues. I make it my business to understand changes in regulation before they affect the industry, so I can help you to plan ahead, reduce the potential impact and make sure you’re well informed.

Meet the team

An image of land, body of water and clouds

Taking proactive action on environmental matters

We work with clients across all sectors to advise them on environmental matters.

Our support covers everything from helping you to understand your ‘net zero’ commitments and reviewing and drafting your environmental strategy to applying for relevant consents, licences and permits and reviewing your environmental management protocols, manuals and risk assessments.

Our expert environmental solicitors can advise on how compliance with regulations can be achieved, along with ensuring substantiation to environmental and green claims to avoid accusations of greenwashing. We also help with upskilling directors on environmental obligations and provide pragmatic solutions to achieve them.

Expert crisis management and legal defence

In the event of a crisis or prosecution, we have the expertise and experience you need by your side.

Throughout all our work, you can trust us to provide a route map through the law and offer guidance on how the Environment Agency and others would deal with breaches and non-compliance, helping you understand how complex legislation is interpreted ‘on the ground’.

We can support you with

  • Providing an incident response, investigating and advising on critical next steps
  • Advising on environment law and sanctions for breach
  • Appealing against decisions made by the Environment Agency (EA)
  • Defending prosecutions taken by the EA, local council and others through the UK courts and tribunals
  • Identifying exemptions and negotiating with the Regulator during any challenges about breaches
  • Advising on civil sanctions and penalties (the alternative to prosecution and fines).

Legal updates and thought leadership

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Recognition of our work

Investors in People

Investors in People

Legal 500 2026 – Top Tier Firm

Legal 500 2026 – Top Tier Firm

Hear what our clients say about us

Jonathan Edwards has tremendous experience as a personal injury litigator. He will always go the extra mile to support a client and his legal and tactical knowledge is unsurpassed. The support and assistance he provides in every case is second to none.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

Leanne Conisbee is a truly outstanding solicitor. She has an astonishing capacity for hard work and always delivers an exceptional work product. She has brilliant judgement and clients admire her ability to achieve great results in the most difficult of cases. There is no-one I would rather have fighting my corner.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

I have every confidence in Jonathan Edwards and Leanne Conisbee when dealing with complex cases. They understand their cases and strategies well. They offer valid and well thought out opinions on matters and I trust and value their judgement. They also listen and collaborate well. We have had some great results together.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

The practice, all though it is a large practice, still maintains the feel of a family firm, and the support and engagement with the team is as such. The whole team have a great understanding of the business that we work in and understand the processes that we work to and with. The team are always there for use when we need them and if they can’t find the answer that is required they get back to use as soon as possible.

Client testimonial Legal 500 2026

Thank you for your personal guidance and professional support throughout the most difficult 12 months of my personal and professional life. I have no words that can describe how easy you are to talk to, and how you make the nerves disappear with your calming manner. Thank you for being in my corner and believing in me.

Client testimonial 2025

I would like to thank HCR Law for their extraordinary effort yesterday. I cannot thank Kate Oliver and the wider Insurance, Risk and Regulatory team enough. You made a very stressful situation much easier whilst achieving a positive outcome.

Client testimonial 2025

Kathryn Gilbertson is highly regarded for her work in the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as her advice to property developers, construction businesses, and facilities management companies.

Legal 500 2025 Health and Safety

Kathryn Gilbertson is the region’s standout partner. She is ‘very committed to client service and is extremely knowledgeable regarding the law in the health and safety and fire safety sectors‘.

Legal 500 2025 Health and Safety

Thank you for your advice, council and everything else

M Shepherd Client testimonial

As well as being incredibly professional and conscientious, Ruth was also incredibly kind and reassuring. This was a very difficult time for me, which had gone on for a long time.

Ruth reassured me with her knowledge of the law but was also a caring and empathetic person to be around. I honestly would not have got through it without her. Thank you so much Ruth.

Client An inquest and with insurance difficulties

As someone who practices at the Bar almost exclusively in the area of health and safety and regulatory law … I can say that Jonathan (Edwards) has a well-deserved reputation for being at the top of his professional tree.

He has a vast array of legal knowledge and also possesses considerable tactical and strategic acumen in relation to whether or not cases should be defended….

James Leonard, Barrister Outer Temple Chambers

I have worked with Jonathan Edwards as my ‘go-to’ legal specialist for over two decades. His strong technical skills backed up by an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the insurance market make him unique and he adds genuine value off the back of this. He has a calm and friendly nature, always taking time to understand us as a business and I am truly grateful for the invaluable support he has provided me over the years.

 

Jamie Lewis, Managing Director Jensten Group Ltd

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