Owen Williams > Lewis Silkin > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Owen Williams

Work Department

Dispute Resolution

Position

Partner

Career

Owen is a specialist construction solicitor providing both dispute resolution and contract drafting advice.

On a typical day Owen may be advising first tier subcontractors in connection with large scale civil engineering projects such as Crossrail, drafting a contract for the fit out of a commercial client’s new offices, advising on claims concerning defects in a luxury residential development for a high net worth individuals or drafting contracts in relation to large scale mixed use developments or long term repairs and maintenance.

Owen also regularly provides EU procurement advice as a member of the firm’s public procurement group.

He has a degree in Electronic Engineering as well as a Masters in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution.

Dispute Resolution
Owen deals with a wide range of disputes relating to construction projects, especially acting in adjudications, and have particular experience of resolving complex payment disputes in adjudications.

Examples of recent work include:

• On going advice in relation to a water ingress defect and potential arbitration claims for recovery of remedial costs.
• Successfully recovering a multi-million pound sum in adjudication against a main contractor for failing to pay interim payments.
• Successfully defending a “smash and grab” adjudication from a contractor alleging lack of payment or pay less notices.

Owen often carries out an initial risk overview for clients so that they are well informed when negotiating and can put themselves in the best position should negotiations fail.

Real Estate
Owen works on all manner of projects, large or small, and has a particular expertise in:

• Complex contracts, often NEC form, relating to large infrastructure projects (eg Crossrail) with pain/gain sharing mechanisms, unlike many lawyers he is perfectly comfortable navigating my way round detailed spreadsheets.
• Contracts for long term housing stock repairs and maintenance particularly TPC or JCT Measured Term forms.
• Consultants’ appointments whether bespoke or standard forms.
• Commercial and retail fit out contracts.
• Secured lending due diligence for property developments.

As well as advising on the main contract or appointment, Owen also advises on the associated contracts such as collateral warranties, bonds, guarantees, escrow or project bank accounts.