As a construction lawyer I have acted on very many projects, large and small, including oil and gas fabrication, power station construction (Zimbabwe, UK, Jordan), subsea cables, hospital design and build, major civil engineering works, power generation (Jersey and Guernsey), energy from waste; airport terminals, hotel developments, shopping malls, housing estates, apartment blocks, procurement challenges, and party walls.
The Special Challenges of Construction Disputes
- The legal background in the Construction Act generates complex and baffling problems for non-specialists in this area of law
- There are many different, complex standard forms of contract, from JCT to IChemE, from NEC3/4 to FIDIC, to ICE, PPP, ACA and the NHS’ own special forms.
- The construction and engineering process has its own special terminology and technology
- Understanding the inter-locking roles and expectations of developers, employers, lenders, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professionals is vital
My Approach
- Objective analysis, thorough understanding and commercial realism.
- I encourage the parties to make best use of the Position Statement process to distil and explain the dispute; in return I work hard to understand the key arguments and the issues;
- Assist the decision makers to appraise risk and reward - settle now or fight on?