George McDonald > 4 New Square Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
4 New Square Chambers Offices
LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3RJ
England
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George McDonald
Position
George has extensive experience of commercial disputes with a real focus on construction, international arbitration and costs. George acts on substantial domestic and international claims, which recently include multiple disputes arising from three separate PFI contracts (worth £2billion, £6billion and £800 million) for the management of road networks, major motorways and a waste management facility, a complex arbitration claim worth in excess of £100million relating to a nuclear facilities construction project, and disputes relating to novel cheque scanning facilities for the whole of the UK. In costs, George has been instructed as sole costs counsel on some of the seminal costs cases and has particular experience of group litigation. Recent costs cases include for the Mirror Newspaper in the phone hacking litigation, in the Mau Mau litigation against the UK Foreign Office, for hundreds of claims by army personnel for hearing loss, one of the largest product liability claims relating to defective hip implants, and for 365 local authorities in the substantial “property searches” litigation.
Memberships
PNBA, COMBAR, TECBAR, SCL.
Education
BA (Oxon) (1st class). Worcester College Scholar. Called to the Bar in 2007 (Hardwicke and Shelford Scholar).
Leisure
Sport, travel.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Construction
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3George McDonald – 4 New Square ‘George is very bright. He is particularly good at cases where there is an element of data interpretation required, and at reviewing the evidence with experts. Clients and solicitors like him for his amiable charm.’
Demonstrating ‘expertise across all levels’, 4 New Square offers representation on a variety of construction-related issues, with a particular focus on defending contractors in cases framed as professional negligence claims. Roger Stewart KC and George McDonald are acting on Sudlows Limited v Global Switch Estates 1 Limited, a series of disputes centred on a project to upgrade a data centre. The set has marked its presence in high-value cladding claims, including Hugh Saunders‘s representation of Broadway Malyan against Balfour Beatty in a dispute concerning a student accommodation development in east London. Additionally, Ben Patten KC is defending cladding consultant Cladtech Associates in Shepherd Construction Limited v Kingspan and Others, a substantial damages claim concerning fire safety and structural defects in a major London development.
London Bar > Costs
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1George McDonald –4 New Square ‘George is an excellent communicator. He identifies the weaknesses in his opponents arguments and holds them to task.’
Offering a ‘costs team that is second to none’, 4 New Square Chambers continue to be the pre-eminent set in this area, offering an unparalleled depth of expertise at both silk and junior level and regularly appearing on significant Court of Appeal and Supreme Court cases. Nicholas Bacon KC has recently acted in BSV Claims v Bittylicious Ltd and others, a major CAT class action and the UK’s first crypto-related collective proceedings, with the claim of collusion alleging to have caused close to £10bn in losses. In Belsner v Cam Legal, Benjamin Williams KC led George McDonald , with the pair successfully appealing to reverse the High Court’s decision that solicitors were subject to fiduciary duties when negotiating their own terms and business, entitling solicitors to deduct full reasonable costs from lower value personal injury claims. Both Robert Marven KC and Matthew Waszak acted in AKC v Barking, a significant test case before the Court of Appeal regarding the information bills of costs must contain in order to comply with CPR requirements. Theo Barclay, being led by Bacon KC, represented the Danish Customs and Tax Administration in the highly publicised SKAT litigation, where the costs bill in favour of the defendants on the indemnity basis totalled £46m.
London Bar > Group litigation
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1George McDonald – 4 New Square ‘George is very knowledgeable and astute, able to give advice on even the most technical points in a clear, concise and practically useful way.’