Bond Dickinson, the national law firm with an office in Bristol, has been ranked in the top 10 for planning law in an annual survey.
The firm’s planning and infrastructure team came joint ninth in the Planning Resource survey, which is based on responses from other solicitors and barristers to gauge how respected the team is in the marketplace. 
The survey is carried out to help planning and legal practitioners identify the solicitors, firms and barristers who are best equipped to deal with the legislation, regulation, policy and legal precedents of development projects and plans.
Highlighted in the survey was Bond Dickinson’s work advising the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on a major scheme which will mean 3,000 new homes with commercial, retail and leisure and community buildings in Docklands.
The firm’s High Court challenge to a decision by Dartford Borough Council in Kent was also highlighted. This judgment is now widely regarded as one of the 10 most important decisions of 2014-2015 and represents the leading case on the interpretation of ‘sustainability’ for the purposes of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
Bond Dickinson head of the planning and infrastructure team Claire Brook said: “It is a credit to the whole team and has been a great team effort and to be able to say that we are ranked in the ‘Top 10’ nationally in this independent survey is great and where we believe we belong.
“As this survey follows on from Chambers and Partners 2015 where we are ranked as only one of four top rated firms nationally for ‘planning: leaders outside of London’ both results demonstrate the breadth and quality of the work we undertake.”
Bond Dickinson has more than 650 lawyers, 1,200 staff and eight offices across the UK.
