Daniel Sturman is a Legal Director at Birketts LLP, specialising in commercial property.
With more than 20 years’ experience, Daniel advises clients across the full range of commercial property transactions, including acquisitions and disposals, development matters, commercial landlord and tenant work, refinancing and asset management.
Daniel’s development experience includes advising on option agreements, conditional contracts, overage arrangements and promotion agreements. He also advises on secured lending and refinancing for banks and borrowers, particularly in relation to industrial estates and portfolios of commercial properties. His broader property practice includes easements, licences to occupy, first registrations and adverse possession applications.
Daniel acts for a wide range of clients, including SMEs, land owners, developers, banks, commercial landlords and tenants. Daniel also provides property support on corporate transactions involving share and asset sales. His approach is commercial and pragmatic, with a focus on identifying and managing risk while delivering clear and efficient advice.
Alongside his client work, Daniel has a strong track record of supervising and mentoring junior lawyers, maintaining and developing legal precedents, and delivering seminars and webinars. His extensive experience across commercial leases, portfolio management, refinancing, development and investment transactions enables him to provide practical, commercially focused advice to clients navigating increasingly complex property requirements.
Recent work highlights
Advised a large engineering company on the acquisition of a complex industrial site in Colchester, including the associated leaseback arrangements and legal charge. The matter required careful coordination of the acquisition, occupational arrangements and financing requirements, with a particular focus on managing title and transaction risk.
Advised on the refinancing of a substantial industrial estate in Chelmsford, including the associated legal charge and property due diligence. The transaction involved addressing complex property and security issues across the estate and delivering a practical, commercially focused solution for the lender/borrower.
Advised landowners on the structuring and negotiation of development option and promotion agreements, together with associated overage provisions. The advice focused on protecting the landowners’ interests while ensuring the arrangements provided an effective framework for securing planning and maximising the future development value of the land.
Experience & education
2026 Legal Director at Birketts LLP
2024 Partner at Birkett Long LLP
2014 Senior Associate Holmes & Hills LLP
2008 Associate at Gepp & Sons
2005 Qualified as Solicitor at Nockolds
2003 – 2005 Trainee Solicitor at Nockolds
2000 – 2001 Guildford College of Law
1996 – 2000 Bournemouth University