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Hewitsons appointed to NFU's new look legal panel
15 May 2008
We are pleased to announce that we have been selected as a member of the NFU Legal Panel Firms to provide support and professional guidance to farmers.
The panel was chosen after an intensive six-month selection process, initially involving 82 legal firms from all over England and Wales. In total 16 law firms have been selected to the new panel, which has been extended from its original seven members to ensure all NFU members have improved access to a specialist legal team.
We will cover Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Norfolk under the new arrangements and will be working closely with the NFU, in particular the Legal Assistance Scheme (LAS) to provide support and professional guidance to members facing legal disputes relating to their businesses as farmers and growers.
Charles Hewitson, of Hewitsons, said: "This is great news for the firm and gives us a real boost going forward. It rewards a lot of hard work and recognises the wide range of agricultural expertise we have. As a firm, Hewitsons has been committed to the agricultural sector for many years and sees an exciting future in this area."
In a positive move Charles was also able to add "Additionally we are pleased to be able to announce additional support to our farming clients by offering a discount on our fees for all NFU Farmer Grower members in connection with their farming businesses".
Chairman of the NFU legal board Fred Gooder said: "We were extremely pleased with the high quality of the tenders, showing how much professional legal firms want to work with the NFU. This represents a major milestone for us in increasing value and providing a more comprehensive legal service to our members, over 90 per cent of whom already belong to the LAS. These appointments further strengthen the bond between the NFU, the scheme and panel solicitors and also bring with them tangible benefits for all NFU farmer and grower members."
Hewitsons has been recognised as a leader in providing agriculture and rural business services for more than 100 years, offering a range of specialist services covering all aspects of agricultural, corporate, commercial and property law, as well as addressing the legal needs of charities and private individuals. The firm has strong roots in the East Anglian region with a large farming and landowning client base throughout England and Wales.