Shepherd and Wedderburn expands rural team with six new recruits

Shepherd and Wedderburn is bolstering its top-ranked rural team with the addition of six lawyers including accredited agricultural law specialists Petra Grunenberg and Ellen Eunson.

Petra, who is ranked as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 and previously led the rural team at Blackadders, will join Shepherd and Wedderburn as a Partner on 5 September, while Ellen joined as Director on 18 August. Both will be based in the firm’s Aberdeen office.

Petra and Ellen bring more than 40 years of combined expertise supporting clients with their rural and agricultural interests, principally advising on rural land transactions, including secured lending, sales and purchases, title conditions, and sporting and fishing rights, as well as agricultural tenancies, renewable energy and other diversification projects, and partnership and succession planning matters.

Their arrival will bring the firm’s total number of agricultural law specialists accredited by the Law Society of Scotland to five.

Petra and Ellen will be joined in the coming weeks by four lawyers specialising in rural and agricultural law, comprising two Senior Associates, an Associate and a Solicitor.

These investments will further Shepherd and Wedderburn’s strategic aims of strengthening and deepening the expertise within its top-ranked rural team and of broadening the firm’s presence across the north-east of Scotland.

The latest appointments closely follow the announcement earlier this month that Peter Smith has joined the firm’s Aberdeen office to lead the development of its real estate team in the region.

Andrew Blain, Managing Partner of Shepherd and Wedderburn, said: “Our rural team in the north-east of Scotland is already top-ranked by both the UK’s independent legal directories and I am confident that the arrival of Petra, Ellen and our other new recruits will further secure our position as the leading trusted advisors for clients with rural and agricultural interests.

“I’m delighted to welcome our new colleagues on board and look forward to working together to further enhance our service to clients.”

Hamish Lean, Head of Rural Property and Business at Shepherd and Wedderburn, said: “We’re very much looking forward to being joined by our new colleagues and we are excited at the prospect of creating the biggest and best resourced rural law team in the north-east of Scotland.”

In July, Shepherd and Wedderburn unveiled that turnover grew 5% to £62.2 million in the financial year 2021/22, with all colleagues receiving an exceptional bonus of 5% of annual salary in recognition of their commitment to the firm and its clients.

Last year, the firm relocated to a new Aberdeen office with capacity to double headcount, as it anticipates sustained growth in the region.