SJ Berwin is taking a lead role for an action group campaigning against the planned high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham, after not-for-profit organisation HS2 Action Alliance (HS2AA) last week took its protest to the High Court.

City planning partner Simon Ricketts is advising protest group HS2AA, which which is seeking two judicial reviews of the Government's plans.

The group, which is backed by four wildlife trusts and around 70 action groups and resident associations, last week lodged proceedings in the High Court against the Department for Transport's (DfT's) HS2 rail link plans, which run between London and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

SJ Berwin, alongside David Elvin QC of Landmark Chambers, is advising on one of two judicial reviews, covering environmental issues, with HS2AA seeking to establish that the Secretary of Stage for Transport failed to comply with EU requirements.

The firm has also been advising the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust about making a formal complaint to the European Commission over breaches.

Leigh Day & Co and David Wolfe QC of Matrix Chambers are advising on the second judicial review, which covers compensation.

Meanwhile, Nabarro is also representing developers bringing a judicial review against the project, with the City firm advising Heathrow Hub Limited. Another claim by 51m, a protest group formed of 18 local authorities along the proposed rail link, has seen Kate Harrison of Harrison Grant Solicitors instructed.

The DfT is using its in-house solicitors and has turned to Landmark Chambers' Tim Mould QC to defend the claims in court. Landmark's Nathalie Lieven QC is representing 51m while Rupert Warren QC is representing Heathrow Hub.

Ricketts said the proceedings "give rise to legal issues of considerable public interest".

Separately, Bircham Dyson Bell is advising HS2 Limited, the government-owned company that is promoting the project.

The £33bn project, rubber-stamped by the Government earlier this year, is set see the construction of a rail link reducing the journey from London to Birmingham to just 45 minutes by 2026, followed by onward legs to Manchester and Leeds by 2032-33.