Expertise
Julie’s practice focuses on the construction, engineering and energy sectors. She represents and advises clients on contentious national and international construction, infrastructure and oil and gas projects. She also gives contract advice, with extensive experience on all standard form construction contracts, and on other contract documentation (warranties, bonds, novations, guarantees).
Julie believes that the management of risk is at the forefront of every successful project. She helps clients to avoid disruption and disputes through awareness of potential pitfalls at the very early stages of a project. Where disputes do arise, she works with the client to limit and resolve problems as quickly and efficiently as possible, to combine the importance of the client being paid, or avoiding payments not due, with the need to maintain good relationships on site and for future projects.
Julie Advises
- Construction and engineering companies
- Oil and gas companies
- Specialist contractors in the construction industry
- Manufacturers
- Service providers in construction and development sectors
Experience Highlights
UK and Mainland Europe Projects:
- Advice and negotiation on a dispute relating to fit-out of retail premises in the UK, France and Brussels. I advised the French in-house counsel of the major US owned audio equipment company on legal and strategic position, and negotiated an advantageous settlement agreement;
- Working with Greek lawyers to resolve a dispute for our UK construction client on a multi-million-pound development project in Cyprus;
- Negotiation of JCT main and sub-contracts, and associated documentation, on a specialist £3.5m project across three UK sites for one of the world’s top three banks, and also on a multi-million-pound project for the implementation of a biofuel project at a large hospital;
African Arbitration:
- LCIA arbitration relating to exploration and development of wells in a Nigerian oil field, with claims and counterclaims valued at approximately $750m;
- Representing and acting as counsel for the engineer in a multi-million-pound arbitration relating to a storage and transport depot in Blantyre, Malawi;
- Investigating and resolving threatened claims against the engineer relating to design on works to the Mohale Dam in Lesotho;
Middle East Arbitrations/Disputes:
- Representing the engineer on multi- million pound claims relating to alleged design and construction faults, and delays relating to the construction of a luxury hotel in Dubai;
- Advising the engineer and its insurer in a long running dispute on liability for defects and delays on the construction and redevelopment of docks in Abu Dhabi;
Aerospace Experience:
- Working as consultant and adviser to the Chief Engineer of a leading aerospace and defence group to analyse the legal aspects and prepare documentation and presentations for a variety of committees and symposiums on airworthiness, environmental concerns and sustainability in aircraft design and production.
Career History
Previous Law Firms
- Berrymans Lace Mawer
- Freedmans
- Birketts
- Speechly Bircham (now Charles Russell Speechlys)
- Stephenson Harwood
Memberships
- Committee member of the Society of Construction Arbitrators
- Fellow – Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Member – Society of Construction Arbitrators
- Member – Society of Construction Law
- Member – TecSA
- Committee Member – Dispute Review Board Federation
Education
- London University – External (LLB)
- College of Law Guildford (Solicitors’ Finals)
Other Qualifications and Languages
- Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration
- Fluent in French
- Intermediate Level in Spanish
Future Engagements
Julie will be speaking at DRBF’s (Dispute Resolution Board Foundation) event in London on the 26th November. DRBF is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the avoidance and resolution of disputes worldwide using the unique and proven Dispute Board (DB) method”.