Emma is a Partner at Burness Paull and is an experienced planning and environmental lawyer. She advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious planning law, including: consenting advisory, environmental impact assessment, contract negotiation, planning aspects of due diligence, public inquiries, and appeals.

Emma advises across all sectors, with particular expertise in the energy sector, having advised on some of the UK’s largest energy projects including onshore wind, offshore wind, battery storage, solar, hydrogen and multi-technology sites.

Emma has a strong understanding of issues faced by developers, having spent time on secondment with two global renewable energy developers where her in-house roles spanned consenting, property and commercial matters. She also spent time at the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government, where she led strategic projects as the Technical Manager there.

I would single out Emma Paton for particular praise, who brings first class technical knowledge and strategic insight to the table.

Legal 500 UK, 2026

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