Practice

In practice at the English Bar since 1975 specialising in disputes arising out of building and civil engineering activities in England and abroad with practice approximately equally divided between High Court litigation and Arbitrations. Engaged in disputes between employers (public and private sector) and contractors; inter-contractor disputes; professional negligence actions; and, disputes over guarantees, bonds and financing arrangements.

Summary of Court/Arbitration Engagements over the last decade - no attempt is made to give details of matters in respect of which only an opinion or advice has been requested and given.

for a plaintiff main contractor seeking summary judgment for payment due for substantial works in London's docklands where payment certificates had not been issued;

for a plaintiff owner of an industrial estate (issue: the architect's liability for "unsuitable" GRP cladding panels);

for a plaintiff purchaser of land subject to registered rights of Common (issue: professional negligence of the solicitor engaged for the conveyancing transaction);

for a plaintiff sub-contractor (issue: the existence of a contract and the extent of payment entitlement for work carried out at Canary Wharf in London's docklands) the existence of the contract was determined as a preliminary issue, quantification of payment entitlement was determined at a lengthy second trial which was followed by an appeal;

for a defendant owner of coal and clay (issue: the existence of a contract and the extent of payment liability to the open-cast contractor);

for a defendant main contractor (issues: procedural - whether arbitration or litigation; substantive - alleged liability for defective roofing carried out by now insolvent sub-contractor - limitation);

for a respondent building owner (issue: appropriate rent abatement following terrorist damage to office building in City of London);

for a defendant cattle market operator (issues: whether new cattle market properly designed and constructed -whether defendant obliged to accept lease of new cattle market in its existing state and condition - nature and extent of damages claimable by market operator because of disruption to smooth running of business);

for a plaintiff refurbishment contractor (issue: liability of roofing sub-contractor to indemnify plaintiff for damages which the plaintiff had accepted were due to employer as a consequence of defectively fixed roofs being blown away by storm force winds);

for a defendant local highway authority (issue: liability for recent subsidence damage to dwellinghouses allegedly caused by trees planted in streets many many years ago);

for a defendant landowner (issue: various disputes arising from a joint venture agreement entered into with a developer);

for manufacturers of a standard range of rotary cutters in dispute with the supplier of a computer controlled precision lathe (issue: whether trial judge entitled to require quantum claim to be formulated and pleaded in a particular way. Court of Appeal ruled judge not so entitled - see GMTC Tools & Equipment Ltd. v. Yuasa Warwick Machinery Ltd. (1994) 73 BLR 102);

for owners of a London hotel in dispute with contractors in respect of refurbishment works (issues: status/effect of architect's certificates - whether contractor entitled to further payable time extensions);

for German defendant crane manufacturers and their associated English trading company which was the supplier of the crane (issues: procedural - whether proceedings properly commenced in England against German Company; substantive - whether defendants liable for repair costs and/or loss of profits after crane collapsed);

for one of the commercial arms of the Ministry of Defence (in relation to various supply agreements for the sales of military equipment to a foreign government (two separate and very protracted international arbitrations under the auspices of the Paris based International Chamber of Commerce "ICC" involving many complex liability issues);

for a Belgian process equipment supplier in dispute with a commercial arm of the Kenyan Government (the main issues were decided in an ICC arbitration but satellite litigation concerning security for costs was taken to the House of Lords - see Coppée Lavalin v. Ken Ren [1995] 1 AC 38);

for Contractors involved in refurbishment of a North Sea oil platform in dispute with a major oil company employer (money and various cost overrun issues);

for international contractors engaged to construct a chemical waste incineration plant in the north-west of England in dispute with employer in ad hoc arbitration proceedings (issues: whether contract varied and if so extent of entitlement to payment for such varied works);

for the owner of a hotel in the North East of England in dispute with an integrated professional team (issues - professional negligence in relation to cost estimation in context of very significant cost overrun for the project;

for the Respondent local authority employer resisting an appeal to the High Court, against an Arbitrator's Award in respect of various claims made under a contract for coastal protection works;

for appellant contractors challenging various aspects of an Árbitrator's Award and at the same time resisting challenges to the same Award made by the developer after lengthy arbitration proceedings concerning a shopping centre development;

for the main contractor engaged by the Welsh Office for a by-pass in North Wales which was being pursued for additional remuneration by the earth moving sub-contractor. This case involved alleged misrepresentation, time extension and additional payment issues, and, after the trial, there were cost applications against non-parties (the directors of the sub-contractor and its solicitors). This case had a particularly complex interlocutory history, giving rise to reported Court of Appeal and first instance decisions - see 81 BLR 31 (CofA), 81 BLR 49 (TCC) and [1998] 1 WLR 1496 (CofA) as well as reported decisions on issues arising in the course of the trials - see [1999] BLR 319 (TCC) and [2000] BLR 81 (TCC);

for the developer of luxury apartments in Gibraltar in dispute with Portugese Contractors (issues - claims for time extensions plus delay and disruption payments; counterclaims for delay and defects; the main issues were dealt with in an ICC Arbitration but satellite litigation concerning the provision of security for costs was dealt with in the Gibraltar Courts;

for Bahamian and Turks & Caicos Contractors seeking to enforce an award made by AAA Arbitrators (sitting in Miami) and to resist challenge to the validity of the Award in the Courts of the Turks & Caicos Islands -Employer's final appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council dismissed Summer 2001);

for the owner of a major London listed building in dispute with architects designing/supervising extensive works of restoration and extension (issue: professional negligence in design/supervision and quantification of damages);

on appeal for a professional land drainage consultant who had been found to have negligently designed/supervised certain preparatory works for an industrial hardstanding (issue: whether the TCC's judges factual findings were correct - this case provides one of very few illustrations of a TCC judge's factual findings being reversed on appeal);

for a process plant owner in dispute with professional advisers engaged to design/supervise the construction of new production facilities at a paper mile (issues: procedural - appeal against striking out of parts of pleadings; substantive - claim for additional fees, counterclaims for failure to achieve required performance and for defects);

for the owners of an abattoir in dispute with the professional adviser engaged to design/ supervise the upgrading and extension of the premises (issues - negligent design and extent to which and period over which commercial losses might be recovered);

for project managers involved in tripartite dispute with building owners and contractors (issues: existence of a construction contract and whether contractors had right to refer dispute to adjudication);

for a local authority modernising and refurbishing a theatre and concert hall (issues: claim for outstanding/additional fees by the architect/contract administrator: counterclaim for professional negligence);

for a specialist supplier of values for a North Sea gas facility (issues: quality of valves; potential liability of supplier to management contractor and/or employer; effect of settlement agreement absolving main contractor of actual/potential liability to employer).