Sarah is a partner in Burness Paull's energy team and leads the firm's exploration & production practice, advising clients on complex transactions, projects and strategic issues across the sector. With 17 years of senior in-house experience at a global energy major, her industry background combines experience across conventional energy, renewables and energy transition projects, giving her holistic industry insight which enables her to support clients as they navigate the evolving energy landscape.
 
Dual-qualified in Scotland and England & Wales, Sarah is recognised for her M&A expertise, having led on high-value transactions involving upstream assets, offshore licences, pipelines, gas terminals and transfers of operatorship. Her experience includes acquisitions, divestments and cross-border transactions across Europe, Africa and South America, enabling her to provide commercially focused advice throughout the deal lifecycle.
 
In addition to M&A, Sarah advises on joint ventures, transportation and processing arrangements, construction and tie-in projects, decommissioning security arrangements, and supply chain contracts. She also has experience of significant HSE incidents, high-value commercial disputes, and regulatory investigations, and has led the legal defence on successful landmark judicial review actions. 
 
Having served on executive leadership and crisis management teams, Sarah brings valuable strategic perspective, commercial judgement and an ability to deliver clear, pragmatic advice that helps clients achieve their objectives while managing risk. She understands what in-house legal and commercial teams need from their external advisers and is focused on providing practical, solutions-driven support on their most critical matters.

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