Jeremy has specialised in construction energy and engineering law and related matters for most of his career. An accredited adjudicator and member of the FIDIC President’s List of Dispute Adjudicators, he focusses on dispute avoidance and resolution where his experience spans litigation, arbitration (domestic and international), adjudication, DAB/DRB, mediation, early neutral evaluation and expert determination. He advises on all aspects of projects both at home and abroad, from initial procurement and strategic project advice to dispute avoidance and resolution and acts across a wide range of construction sectors in the UK and internationally, including general construction, transport, communications, process plant, oil, gas, nuclear and renewables.
Recommended in the area of International Arbitration in Chambers UK and The Legal 500 UK, the Guides note his “spectacular knowledge of FIDIC” and Jeremy is described as “extremely committed and hard-working”, he “has great attention to detail and can always see the bigger picture, and he keeps really calm under pressure” and “quickly builds a rapport with clients and deservedly earns their respect.” Jeremy is listed as a leader in his field in Who’s Who Legal: Construction where he is praised by peers who highlight him as “an outstanding construction lawyer with impressive cross-border experience”.
Jeremy also has extensive experience of all principal main contracts including FIDIC, JCT, ICE, NEC, GC/Works, and IChemE and numerous bespoke forms used in international and domestic construction, energy and infrastructure projects.
Specialist expertise
Jeremy has particular expertise in advising clients on international projects, often under the FIDIC form. He assists and represents clients at dispute board hearings as well as in international arbitrations under ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ad hoc rules. He is a member of the FIDIC President’s List of Dispute Adjudicators and in the UK, he is also an accredited adjudicator and regularly advises on both the conduct of adjudication and the enforcement of adjudicators’ decisions.
Examples of Jeremy’s expertise include:
- representing a contractor client on a series of DAB disputes on a major hydroelectric plant in Africa; advising on a claim for over 2,500 days’ extension of time and related damages in excess of US$800 million under an amended FIDIC Silver Book with a myriad of supplemental agreements for a 6,000MW plant;
- chair of 3-person DAB on a hydro-electric power plant in Indonesia;
- advising on claims and disputes arising out of the construction and operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Crude Oil Pipeline Project in Turkey, including defending and bringing claims in ICC arbitrations;
- acting for a German specialist engineering company in connection with disputes (including a successful ICC arbitration and enforcement of the award) arising out of the design, supply and installation of electrical, control and instrumentation works (FIDIC Yellow Book) for a waste-to-energy plant in Eastern Europe;
- acting for a contractor in a dispute in relation to the rehabilitation, design and construction of a road of national significance in Asia under the FIDIC Pink Book, involving several dispute board referrals and arbitration under the SIAC Rules;
- defending the government on a power plant project in the Baltic Region, against an extension of time and financial claims in a DAB process under a FIDIC contract;
- representing an international specialist power plant contractor in respect of a claim relating to pipework installations at a new nuclear power plant in Europe. Successfully referring the matter to expert determination;
- advising an Employer on the supply and construction contracts suitable for a major mining infrastructure complex in North Africa;
- representing the contractor in an expert determination in relation to disputes arising out of construction works at a combined cycle (gas and steam turbines) electricity power plant in Oman;
- representing a contractor client on potential disputes on a major bridge project in Bangladesh under a FIDIC contract. Agreements reached to avoid formal disputes;
- representing a government authority in a series of hearings before a DAB (FIDIC Orange Book), following a dispute over a new environmental process facility in the Caribbean;
- infrastructure projects in Romania, under FIDIC Red and Yellow books and amended contracts. Claims for delay arising from design approvals, variations, land appropriation, related money claims for prolongation and price escalation in DAB and ICC arbitration;
- advising a Korean engineering company in LCIA arbitration proceedings in relation to a dispute in the Middle East arising out of the construction of a deep gravity sewer and water treatment works;
- acting on behalf of a major hotel in a dispute before the TCC in London with the construction manager, relating to the £35 million refurbishment;
- advising an EPC contractor on disputes valued at approximately US$100 million in relation to the construction of the pumping stations on a North African crude oil export pipeline project;
- acting for a contractor in relation to several disputes involving the contractor’s employer (the primary contractor) and its subcontractors, in relation to the construction of a significant infrastructure project in the United Arab Emirates, under a bespoke contract, including a DIAC arbitration;
- advising a specialist steel contractor in relation to a signature project in Abu Dhabi, including issues relating to design, defects, extensions of time and financial claims for prolongation disruption and variations subject to UAE Law and arbitration under the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre Rules;
- advising on a draft FIDIC contract for a power project located in Ghana. Running a series of workshops on the contract and its application while advising on the formalization of the contractual documents and day-today running of the project.
Other activities
Jeremy is the co-author of Understanding the FIDIC Red and Yellow Book: A Clause by Clause Commentary, the third edition of which was published in 2018, and lead editor of Building Contract Disputes: Practice and Precedents. Jeremy organises and regularly addresses Fenwick Elliott-hosted construction law update webinars and seminars. He also edits Fenwick Elliott’s monthly legal bulletin, Dispatch.
Jeremy is a member of the Board of Examiners on the Centre of Construction Law MSc programme at King’s College, London, where he also teaches on adjudication and FIDIC issues, as well as the FIDIC Summer School. He is also a guest lecturer on the MSc Building Information Modelling Management Programme at Middlesex University and regularly lectures for the West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference.
Jeremy's memberships/positions include:
- president of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF);
- member of the FIDIC Net Zero Task Force TG23;
- member of the Advisory Panel of the Built Environment Committee for The Chancery Lane Project;
- member of the CIArb Adjudication Sub-Committee;
- member of the Conflict Avoidance Steering Group;
- member of the Technology and Construction Solicitors’ Association (TECSA);
- member of the Society of Construction Law;
- member of the International Construction Law Association (ICLA);
- former secretary of the London Branch of the Adjudication Society;
- former trustee of the Construction and Development Partnership (CODEP), a construction industry-led development charity currently operating in Sierra Leone.
