Call Date: 2000

Practice

Serena specialises in construction and engineering, professional negligence, IT and telecommunications, transport infrastructure and utilities disputes representing a wide range of contractors, employers and their professional advisors both domestically and internationally.

She acts as sole counsel and junior counsel in very large complex disputes with experience in domestic and international arbitration, domestic courts, adjudication and mediation.

Construction and Engineering

Serena has experience acting for contractors, subcontractors, employers and their advisers in disputes arising from the design and construction of a wide range of domestic and international building and civil engineering projects, including sports stadia, commercial and residential properties. She has expertise in issues relating to extension of time, delay and disruption, loss and expense, defects, design and diminution in value claims. She is also very familiar with Standard Form contracts including the JCT, NEC and FIDIC standard forms. Her recent experience includes:

Acting for the Employer in an arbitration under the DCCI rules concerning the Employer's entitlement to terminate a contract for the construction of a development in Dubai, and the Contractor's entitlement to extensions of time and delay and disruption costs;

Junior Counsel in court proceedings concerning the proper interpretation of section 1 of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 and the true meaning of "payment" for the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980

Baker & Davies Plc v. Leslie Wilkes Associates [2005] 3 All ER 603;

Acting for the contractor from inception to appeal in proceedings lasting over 2 years concerning the provision of facilities management services at 372 supermarket outlets;

Junior Counsel in court proceedings concerning the effect of clause 39B.4 of the JCT WCD on the exercise of the Court's discretion under section 45(2)(a) of the Arbitration Act 1996

Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey Southern Counties v. Barnes & Elliott [2006] BLR 377;

Advising on the scope and terms of contractors' obligations under PFI contracts;

Acting for the communications sub-contractor in a dispute concerning the design and construction of the communications package for the new Wembley stadium;

Acting for the employer on a multi-party dispute concerning the supply and installation of chillers at a headquarters building in London;

Representing a developer in a trial of allegations of nuisance, negligence, breach of contract and breach of statutory duty in the construction of a housing development in London;

Defending an action against the Duchy of Cornwall in relation to refurbishment works at Duchy properties in the Isle of Scilly;

Junior Counsel in an arbitration concerning works at a Ministry of Defence village.

Professional Negligence

Serena has acted as sole counsel and as junior counsel variously for and against engineers, architects, project managers and design consultants in the construction and engineering sectors. Instructions include:

Acting for the Claimant engineer in a trial listed for five weeks concerning the design of a methane gas extraction and processing plant;

Advising on the liabilities of the contractor, engineer and architect involved in revetment works along the Medway River;

Junior counsel for the architect in a four-week trial concerning the adequacy of an architect's design of a dye-works;

Energy and Utilities

She has wide experience acting for contractors, manufacturers and professionals on litigation and adjudication proceedings arising out of the design and/or construction of treatment and processing plants. Case examples include:

Acting for the joint-venture, design-and-build, sub-contractor of a waste-water treatment plant procured in a PFI context. The sub-contractor's claim concerned delay and disruption; extensions of time; entitlement to performance incentive payments, and the valuation of additional work;

Acting for the institutional funder in name-borrowing adjudication proceedings arising out of a suite of 9 contracts concerning the funding, design, construction and operation of a waste processing plant procured in a PFI context.

Acting for the employer on its appeal from an Arbitrator's award in relation to the design and construction of a wind-farm in Scotland.

IT and telecommunications

Serena has experience of IT and telecommunication project disputes and has acted variously for client, supplier and consultants. Recent matters include:

Acting in adjudication proceedings concerning the installation of a trans-European system of fibre-optic cables;

Acting in proceedings concerning billing errors under a mobile-phone air-time selling agreement.

Transport

She has represented contractors on disputes arising from road and rail projects and infrastructures.

Her cases include:

Acting in two large road-building arbitrations concerning the forseeability of site conditions, the identification and valuation of variations and the Contractor's entitlement to extensions of time and delay and disruption costs;

Acting for a major rail network in an arbitration concerning the cause and consequences of differential settlement of land, and the incidence of liability for that settlement.

Reported cases

Baker & Davies Plc v. Leslie Wilkes Associates [2005] 3 All ER 603

Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey Southern Counties v. Barnes & Elliott [2006] BLR 377