Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has today (28 October 2011) hired partner Aidan Thomson to extend BLP’s environmental and insurance offering to clients.

Previously head of environment at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) where he joined the partnership in 2003, Aidan has 20 years of experience covering all aspects of environmental law at both BLG and Freshfields. Aidan is an expert in supporting corporate and real estate teams on transaction matters, as well as stand alone regulatory and contentious matters. Aside from his substantial environmental expertise, he has proven experience in the insurance sector working with clients including Zurich, Allianz, Liberty International, and ACE.

At BLP Aidan will help the planning and environment team broaden and deepen the firm’s client base across industry sectors exposed to environmental issues. He will also add to the firm’s existing capability in the insurance sector and provide additional high quality transaction expertise. Aidan’s hire follows the appointments of non-contentious construction expert Marc Hanson, who will join from Ashurst in the coming months, and construction partner Richard Davies who joined the Abu Dhabi office in September.

Joint heads of BLP’s top rated planning and environment team, Tim Pugh and Tim Hellier said: “Aidan Thomson is a renowned practitioner with a breadth of experience advising across the environment and insurance sectors.  We are committed to providing clients with an integrated, multi-disciplinary service. Aidan is someone who will add significantly to our team’s offering.”

Commenting on the appointment, Aidan said: BLP has a leading reputation in the real estate market, including planning and environment, and I am excited about becoming part of such a preeminent team. As the economy begins to recover there will be increased activity around environmental matters as clients seek greater clarity on the potential risks and opportunities. Likewise, BLP’s established insurance capabilities provide me with an excellent platform from which to continue to assist insurers on environmental liability issues.”