Town Legal bids farewell to founding partner, and promotes from within

Planning law firm Town Legal has promoted Paul Arnett to partner, just as founding partner Patrick Robinson is set to retire. Robinson, who will retire on 31 March, has worked in real estate and planning law for more than 45 years, spending 38 of those years at Herbert Smith Freehills before founding Town Legal with others in 2016.  He has worked on many high-profile projects over that time, including: Broadgate, the Supreme Court, 22 Bishopsgate, the Tate Modern and Royal Brompton Hospital.  Arnett specialises in all aspects of planning, infrastructure, and compulsory purchase law, delivering high-profile projects across a variety of sectors for clients such as Royal Mail, IM Properties and CIT. He previously worked for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and the Department for Transport advising on the revised National Planning Property Framework, the Letwin Review and the compulsory purchase reforms in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017. His promotion takes effect from 1 April.  Commenting on Robinson’s retirement, Sir Stuart Lipton of Lipton Rogers Developments said: “Patrick has had a special place in town planning. He has always had an approach of being cautious and thorough with an ability to produce legal opinions of the highest order.  “His record at winning cases has given him the unusual position of being recognised by clients, government and local authorities as a man of the highest integrity and the most expert knowledge. Patrick’s humanity and generosity to his clients and colleagues will be hugely missed as well as his concern for benefits to the publics needs of town planning and their social context.” Clare Fielding, managing partner at Town Legal, added: “We are incredibly grateful for Patrick’s service to our partnership over the past eight years. As a founding partner and our first managing partner, he was instrumental in the set-up of the firm, its establishment as a leading planning law practice and the development of some of our key client relationships. We wish him well in his retirement and hope to keep in touch as he enjoys some well-earned time off.” Fielding added: “We are delighted to promote Paul to partner. As a firm we place a lot of emphasis on organic growth and its importance for long-term succession and deep client relationships. This is our third partner promotion in as many years, with Spencer Tewis-Allen joining the partnership in 2022 and Victoria McKeegan last year and shows our dedication to the next generation of lawyers at our firm.”