Simon Hughes KC > The Chambers of Alexander Nissen KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
Keating Chambers Offices
Keating Chambers
15 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3AA
England
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Simon Hughes KC
Position
Simon Hughes QC is a specialist silk in major construction, engineering, shipbuilding and other off-shore and energy related disputes was recently awarded “Construction and Energy Silk of the Year” for 2019 by the Legal 500. He comes recommended for his client-focused approach, understanding of the technicalities of disputes and his “exceptional” advocacy, cross-examination, and advice. Simon has been fortunate to have acted on some of the largest, and most challenging, heavy civil engineering disputes of the day (including a great deal of highway/highway infrastructure and associated geotechnical work).
Simon has been involved in disputes involving most standard form contracts used for substantial projects including the JCT standard forms, ICE 5th and 6th editions, the NEC, IChemE, FIDIC (Green, Red, Yellow and Silver Books), and derivative standard form agreements. He has particular experience of FIDIC forms and the NEC. In terms of types of dispute, Simon has particular experience of international power-plant disputes, major infrastructure projects and shipbuilding work, particularly in the Far East, and in disputes where the governing law is not English law. He has represented and advised clients on disputes in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Australia, Dubai and other parts of the UAE, various islands within the Caribbean and New Zealand. Simon has significant experience of working with Korean clients, and particular major Korean contractors, in connection with the mega-projects in which they are often play a crucial role. He has also been admitted to the Bar in Trinidad & Tobago and New Zealand for specific cases.
Whilst a lot of Simon’s work involves arbitration – and he has experience of over 20 different national legal systems being the law of the contract – he is also well-known as a court advocate, both in the TCC and Commercial Court in London, and has been successful in a large number of reported cases.
Disputes in the energy sector are a central part of Simon’s practice as a senior QC. Simon’s dispute and advisory practice encompasses construction of power-generating facilities across the whole spectrum of fuels; transportation and sale of oil, gas and electricity; drilling and exploration disputes; and nuclear new-build and decommissioning disputes. He has recently been selected as the QC to work alongside NNB Genco (HPC) as their project to build two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset takes shape.
Career
Public Access Training, 2015
Queen Counsel, 2011
Judicial Assistant to the Court of Appeal, 1997
Keating Chambers, 1996
Called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn), 1995
Languages
German.
Memberships
Member of the Society of Construction Law
Member of Technology and Construction Bar Association (TECBAR)
Member of Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR)
Education
Magdalen College, Oxford (Scholar Double 1st Class).
Leisure
Opera, ballet, all things German, a bit of gym.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Construction
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Simon Hughes KC – Keating Chambers ‘Simon is authoritative, diligent, and hugely commercially savvy. His instincts are second to none, and he is guaranteed to be a safe pair of hands on any complex construction and engineering dispute. A smart advocate, he responds well to changing circumstances, with an uncanny ability to read the room and fine-tune his advocacy as required. Simply put, instructing Simon is a no-brainer for anyone wanting the best in the business.’
As an ‘excellent specialist set’ in construction law, Keating Chambers continues to impress with its representation in an array of high-profile cases, both in the UK and abroad. In addition to the set’s global presence in arbitrations, domestic instructions include Martlet Homes v Mulalley, the first post-Grenfell cladding fire safety case to go to trial, where Jonathan Selby KC and Tom Coulson represented the claimants, while Simon Hughes KC and James Frampton acted for the defendants. Other key cases include Cambridgeshire County Council v BAM Nuttall Limited, a long-running case concerning a guided busway in Cambridgeshire, involving Piers Stansfield KC, Sarah Williams, and Harry Smith acting for the claimant. Paul Bury, acting for Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Limited, and Lucy Garrett KC, who is representing Derbyshire CC & Derby CC, are instructed to appear on opposite sides of a dispute revolving around the termination of a PFI contract for the Derby waste-to-energy plant. The set has seen the addition of Alexandra Bodnar from 39 Essex Chambers. Paul Buckingham KC and William Webb KC both took silk in March 2023, while Adam Constable KC (as was) is now on the High Court bench.
London Bar > International arbitration: counsel
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Simon Hughes KC –Keating Chambers ‘Simon is extremely sharp, an excellent advocate, hand-on and works as part of a team. He has the ability to distill the complex and charm witnesses and tribunals.’
London Bar > Energy
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Simon Hughes KC –Keating Chambers ‘Simon has the ability to distil complex issues and charm both witnesses and tribunals.’
Keating Chambers principally focuses on construction projects but spans many markets, among them oil and gas, nuclear, energy-from-waste, windfarms, renewable energy, and mining. 2022 silk appointment Paul Buckingham KC, who is ‘very measured, and gives very clear non-nonsense advice’, specialises in major construction, energy and engineering disputes, particularly those involving international projects – he is currently acting for Surrey County Council in relation to a waste treatment and energy from waste facility in Shepperton, which has £205m in PFI credit funding from DEFRA. Simon Hughes KC is currently involved in a high-profile matter concerning the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor, and turning to the set’s juniors Tom Owen KC appeared as sole counsel for the defendants in Premier Engineering v MW High Tech Projects, a TCC matter final account dispute.
Asia Pacific - The English Bar > Construction, energy and infrastructure
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Simon Hughes KC – Keating Chambers ‘He is articulate, very energetic and solution-driven.’
Keating Chambers has a reputation as ‘a top notch set for construction litigation and arbitration‘. The set is home to ‘an impressive bench of advocates with a wide range of valuable international experience, and deep technical knowledge in the construction industry across the energy and infrastructure sectors‘. The ‘ferocious cross-examiner‘ Philip Boulding KC continues to advise on complex construction and civil engineering disputes across multiple Asia Pacific countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Macau. Simon Hughes KC‘s ‘advocacy is charming but direct‘ and regularly handles arbitration matters under the SIAC and ICC. In January 2023 Robert Fenwick Elliott retired from practice.
Middle East: The English Bar > Construction
(Leading silks)Ranked: Tier 1Simon Hughes KC – Keating Chambers ‘Simon is an excellent strategist, and has very good judgement. On difficult issues to which there is no clear answer, Simon will invariably be right as to which way the tribunal will lean.’
Experienced in DIAC, ICC, and LCIA arbitration, Keating Chambers is well-informed in heavyweight construction disputes arising from airport, road, and rail development projects. David Thomas KC enjoys a regional footprint and his broad construction experience encompasses Saudi Arabian mixed commercial developments. Simon Hughes KC and Justin Mort KC specialise in disputes arising from energy projects, while Calum Lamont KC is often engaged in international marine construction arbitration. James Thompson is knowledgeable of disputes arising from commercial and educational facility developments, while Paul Buckingham KC and William Webb KC took silk in 2023.