Julie Forsyth

Expertise Julie Advises Experience Highlights Career History

Partner

Construction, Engineering & Infrastructure

+44 (0) 7464 952 151

Expertise

Julie’s practice focuses on the construction, engineering and energy sectors. She gives contract advice and negotiates and drafts contract documentation on a wide range of construction projects, representing developers, contractors, funders or professional consultants. She is experienced in a variety of standard form contracts including FIDIC, NEC and JCT as well as bespoke contracts and framework, fit out and services agreements.

Julie has specialised in the construction and engineering sector since qualifying as a solicitor  in September 1991. She has represented and advised clients on a broad spectrum of infrastructure projects including railways, airports, bridges, roads and dams and on commercial developments of all kinds. She also ran a consultancy business in France for several years, providing legal and business advice to international companies in the oil and energy, aeronautic and engineering sectors.

Julie is an arbitrator and an RICS accredited mediator. She is strong promoter of conflict avoidance provisions and actions to minimise or reduce disputes in construction projects.

Julie Advises

  • Construction and engineering companies
  • Specialist contractors, fabricators and suppliers in the construction industry
  • Oil and gas companies
  • Aerospace engineers
  • Funders
  • Developers
  • Service providers in construction and development sectors

Experience Highlights

UK and Mainland Europe Projects:

Advice and negotiation of contracts for:

  • Various large scale developments, high value residential renovations and fit-outs for UK and foreign nationals
  • a specialist £3.5m project across three UK sites for battery replacement and maintenance works for data centres of a major investment bank
  • French in-house counsel on a dispute relating to fit-out of retail premises in the UK, France and
  • Brussels for an iconic US owned audio equipment company
    implementation of biomass project at a major hospital, acting for main contractor
  • a straw biomass supply contract for a renewable energy plant
  • a marine engineering company involved in major offshore projects as well as design and construction for the armed forces and fitting-out of ships and ferries
  • Heathrow Terminal 5 construction
  • Various eco-build projects for a rammed earth contractor

Also:

  • Commercial advice to chief engineer and counsel on a pioneering carbon capture, transport and storage project costing €60m and partial decommissioning of a major gas plant in South-West France
  • Advising on international disputes, including several helicopter crashes and alleged engineering faults
  • Mentoring and training young recruits in risk and legal awareness prior to their transfer to management roles on oil and gas platforms

International Arbitrations / Disputes ⸺ Africa and Middle East:

  • LCIA arbitration relating to exploration and development of wells in a Nigerian oil field, with claims and counterclaims of around US$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
  • Dispute resolution relating to design on works to the Mohale Dam in Lesotho
    Fit out dispute at a prestigious museum complex in Qatar
  • Long running dispute on liability for defects and delays on the construction and redevelopment of docks in Abu Dhabi

Middle East Arbitrations / Disputes:

  • Representing the engineer on £multi-million 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:

  • 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

  • Stephenson Harwood
  • Berrymans Lace Mawer
  • Birketts
  • Speechly Bircham (now Charles Russell Speechlys)
  • Freedmans
  • Conseil & Formation

Appointments and Voluntary Roles

  • Conflict Avoidance Coalition: Steering Group and Contracts Group Member
  • Society of Construction Arbitrators (SCA): Committee Member (& past President)
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators: Fellow (FCIArb)
  • Arbitration Club: Law Courts branch: Member
  • Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF): past UK Country Representative

Education

  • London University: LLB (Hons)
  • College of Law Guildford (Solicitors’ Finals)

Other Qualifications and Languages

  • RICS Accredited mediator
  • Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration
  • Fluent in French

View Julie’s CV here

Recent talks & events by Julie:

  • Conflict Avoidance Coalition Conference: ‘The art of persuasion: Encouraging the construction industry to adopt collaborative working’ .  2 October 2024, Portcullis House, London.
  • Society of Construction Arbitrators, Annual Conference: Organiser and Chair: ‘Arbitration – four decades past and four decades to the future’. 11 -12 May 2024 – Sicily
  • Society of Construction Arbitrators, Annual Conference: ‘Diversity in arbitration’. 7-8 May 2022
  • Builders’ Breakfast: a roundtable discussion on ‘The Use of Technology to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Risk in the Construction Industry … and Reduce Our Carbon Footprint While We are at It!’. 18th January 2022 at Dorset Chamber of Commerce

Expertise

Back to top

Julie’s practice focuses on the construction, engineering and energy sectors. She gives contract advice and negotiates and drafts contract documentation on a wide range of construction projects, representing developers, contractors, funders or professional consultants. She is experienced in a variety of standard form contracts including FIDIC, NEC and JCT as well as bespoke contracts and framework, fit out and services agreements.

Julie has specialised in the construction and engineering sector since qualifying as a solicitor  in September 1991. She has represented and advised clients on a broad spectrum of infrastructure projects including railways, airports, bridges, roads and dams and on commercial developments of all kinds. She also ran a consultancy business in France for several years, providing legal and business advice to international companies in the oil and energy, aeronautic and engineering sectors.

Julie is an arbitrator and an RICS accredited mediator. She is strong promoter of conflict avoidance provisions and actions to minimise or reduce disputes in construction projects.

Julie Advises

Back to top
  • Construction and engineering companies
  • Specialist contractors, fabricators and suppliers in the construction industry
  • Oil and gas companies
  • Aerospace engineers
  • Funders
  • Developers
  • Service providers in construction and development sectors

Experience Highlights

Back to top

UK and Mainland Europe Projects:

Advice and negotiation of contracts for:

  • Various large scale developments, high value residential renovations and fit-outs for UK and foreign nationals
  • a specialist £3.5m project across three UK sites for battery replacement and maintenance works for data centres of a major investment bank
  • French in-house counsel on a dispute relating to fit-out of retail premises in the UK, France and
  • Brussels for an iconic US owned audio equipment company
    implementation of biomass project at a major hospital, acting for main contractor
  • a straw biomass supply contract for a renewable energy plant
  • a marine engineering company involved in major offshore projects as well as design and construction for the armed forces and fitting-out of ships and ferries
  • Heathrow Terminal 5 construction
  • Various eco-build projects for a rammed earth contractor

Also:

  • Commercial advice to chief engineer and counsel on a pioneering carbon capture, transport and storage project costing €60m and partial decommissioning of a major gas plant in South-West France
  • Advising on international disputes, including several helicopter crashes and alleged engineering faults
  • Mentoring and training young recruits in risk and legal awareness prior to their transfer to management roles on oil and gas platforms

International Arbitrations / Disputes ⸺ Africa and Middle East:

  • LCIA arbitration relating to exploration and development of wells in a Nigerian oil field, with claims and counterclaims of around US$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
  • Dispute resolution relating to design on works to the Mohale Dam in Lesotho
    Fit out dispute at a prestigious museum complex in Qatar
  • Long running dispute on liability for defects and delays on the construction and redevelopment of docks in Abu Dhabi

Middle East Arbitrations / Disputes:

  • Representing the engineer on £multi-million 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:

  • 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

Back to top

Previous Law Firms

  • Stephenson Harwood
  • Berrymans Lace Mawer
  • Birketts
  • Speechly Bircham (now Charles Russell Speechlys)
  • Freedmans
  • Conseil & Formation

Appointments and Voluntary Roles

  • Conflict Avoidance Coalition: Steering Group and Contracts Group Member
  • Society of Construction Arbitrators (SCA): Committee Member (& past President)
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators: Fellow (FCIArb)
  • Arbitration Club: Law Courts branch: Member
  • Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF): past UK Country Representative

Education

  • London University: LLB (Hons)
  • College of Law Guildford (Solicitors’ Finals)

Other Qualifications and Languages

  • RICS Accredited mediator
  • Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration
  • Fluent in French

View Julie’s CV here

Recent talks & events by Julie:

  • Conflict Avoidance Coalition Conference: ‘The art of persuasion: Encouraging the construction industry to adopt collaborative working’ .  2 October 2024, Portcullis House, London.
  • Society of Construction Arbitrators, Annual Conference: Organiser and Chair: ‘Arbitration – four decades past and four decades to the future’. 11 -12 May 2024 – Sicily
  • Society of Construction Arbitrators, Annual Conference: ‘Diversity in arbitration’. 7-8 May 2022
  • Builders’ Breakfast: a roundtable discussion on ‘The Use of Technology to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Risk in the Construction Industry … and Reduce Our Carbon Footprint While We are at It!’. 18th January 2022 at Dorset Chamber of Commerce