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FBC Manby Bowdler Partner Secures First Agricultural Law Fellowship- 23/09/2009
A partner at a Bridgnorth law firm has become the first solicitor in Shropshire to be granted the top award by the leading rural legal business organisation.
Steven Corfield, Partner and Head of Agricultural and Rural Services at FBC Manby Bowdler, has become a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association, the highest specialist qualification which the organisation can grant.
Mr Corfield was awarded fellowship after passing an exam following a specialist course of study at The Royal College of Agriculture Cirencester, confirming his specialist knowledge of rural property and business matters, covering the law of Trusts, Inheritance and Capital Gains Taxation planning, Landlord and Tenant’s Succession, litigation relating to landlord and tenant and trustee matters, Town and Country Planning, and the Common Agricultural Policy.
Mr Corfield has specialised in agricultural legal matters since 1994. As the Head of FBC Manby Bowdler’s Agricultural and Rural Services, he leads a group of nine lawyers and currently works for a large number of farming clients and landed estates, including the Crown Estate.
Mr Corfield has also built up an equine practice and acts for several clients with national training licences, a number of riding stables and livery yards, and is a UK VAT Agent for Irish racing stables. He is also a member of the Shropshire Committee of the Country Landowner’s Association and of The Farmers Club in London.
Mr Corfield, who grew up on the family farm in Bridgnorth, said: “The course gave me the opportunity to look back at work I have specialised in for 30 years, to enhance my knowledge, and to meet up with Solicitors, Barristers and Land Agents who have had very similar backgrounds and legal experience. This certainly shifted me out of my comfort zone, was challenging and will prove to be of considerable benefit to my practice.”