The Legal 500 > Asia Pacific > Asia Pacific: The English Bar > Asia Pacific - The English Bar > Construction, energy and infrastructure

Construction, Energy And Infrastructure

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39 Essex Chambers
4 Pump Court
Atkin Chambers
Keating Chambers
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Fountain Court Chambers
Quadrant Chambers
Twenty Essex

Leading Full-time Arbitrators

Dr Robert Gaitskell QC – Keating Chambers  ‘Diligent, organised and extremely thorough in preparation.’

Leading Silks

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Philip Boulding QC – Keating Chambers ‘An excellent advocate and an absolutely ferocious and thorough cross-examiner.’
Anneliese Day QC–Fountain Court Chambers 'A construction specialist with strong technical knowledge of the sector and incisive understanding of key issues.’
Nicholas Dennys QC – Atkin Chambers ‘He is an excellent strategist and highly regarded advocate.’
Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC – Atkin Chambers ‘Very thorough, meticulous and in high demand for Asian disputes.’
Andrew Goddard QC – Atkin Chambers ‘He understands the construction industry and brings a very pragmatic approach to his advice and advocacy.’
Alexander Gunning QC – One Essex Court
Adrian Hughes QC – 39 Essex Chambers ‘His knowledge and familiarity with both court and arbitration proceedings in this practice area are second to none.’
Charles Manzoni QC – 39 Essex Chambers ‘A very practical leading counsel, with the ability to turn complexity to simplicity.’
Peter Rees QC–39 Essex Chambers ‘One of the top arbitrators for major construction, energy and infrastructure disputes in the Asia Pacific region.’
Andrew White QC – Atkin Chambers ‘An excellent advocate who is the epitome of the steel fist in a silk glove.’
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Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS - Arbitration Chambers
Sean Brannigan QC – 4 Pump Court ‘An excellent strategist and fearless advocate.’
Adam Constable QC – Keating Chambers ‘His judgement on important strategic decisions is exceptional and he reads situations and tribunals very well.’
Simon Croall QC – Quadrant Chambers ‘He is experienced and his way of advocacy is very persuasive.’
James Howells QC – Atkin Chambers ‘He manages client expectations very well by his objective approach, honesty and transparency.’
Simon Hughes QC – Keating Chambers ‘He has become a popular choice for complex construction arbitrations in this region.’
John Marrin QC – Keating Chambers ‘One of the very best arbitrators in the field.’
Luke Parsons QC–Quadrant Chambers ‘An excellent advocate. Luke is insightful and focuses on the key points.’
Lionel Persey QC – Quadrant Chambers ‘A solid advocate in energy disputes.’
Simon Rainey QC – Quadrant Chambers ‘Strategic, forensic, leaving no stone unturned and his advocacy is top drawer.’
John Rowland QC – 4 Pump Court
David Streatfeild-James QC–Atkin Chambers ‘His advocacy is excellent and his strengths are well-known.’
Marcus Taverner QC–Keating Chambers ‘A tough cross-examiner and one of the best advocates.’
David Thomas QC – Keating Chambers
Duncan Matthews QC - Twenty Essex 'Great strategist, very practical and excellent advocacy skills.'
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Serena Cheng QC – Atkin Chambers ‘She is very clever, meticulous and is excellent with details and foreshadowing issues.’
Nigel Cooper QC – Quadrant Chambers ‘A highly engaging and effective advocate, who is very quick on his feet and effective in cross examining expert witnesses.’
Paul Darling QC – 39 Essex Chambers
Yash Kulkarni QC – Quadrant Chambers ‘Excellent at getting to grips with the detail.’
Simon Lofthouse QC – Atkin Chambers ‘Precise and sharp on his feet in his excellent advocacy and analytical skills.’
Vincent Moran QC – Keating Chambers ‘His attention to detail has regularly been praised by solicitors around the world.’
Jern-Fei Ng QC – 7BR ‘Very commercial in his approach and he is able to grasp the details quickly.’
Michael Nolan QC – Quadrant Chambers
Colin Ong QC – 36 Stone ‘He is a very charismatic advocate who is exceptionally creative and a genius-level strategist.’
Sean O’Sullivan QC – 4 Pump Court ‘A confident advocate who argues a case very sensibly and is always well prepared.’
Christopher Smith QC – Quadrant Chambers ‘He is incredibly approachable and easy to work with.’
Marion Smith QC – 39 Essex Chambers
Nakul Dewan SA – Twenty Essex ‘He provides succinct, on-the-point advice, is a great speaker and is able to work with international clients.’

2021 Silks

Mark Chennells QC – Atkin Chambers ‘He is fiercely intelligent and has a knack for seeing alternative approaches to what appears to be difficult problems.’
Samuel Townend QC – Keating Chambers ‘He is very knowledgeable on the technical details of dredging engineering.’

Leading Juniors

Steven Lim - 39 Essex Chambers 'He is always on top of his cases, has excellent judgement and is very knowledgeable.'
Shourav Lahiri – Atkin Chambers 'Very thorough, meticulous, extremely hardworking and also an accomplished advocate.'
David Bateson – 39 Essex Chambers ‘A first class arbitrator, who cuts right through to the core of the dispute before him, and is decisive and effective.’
Jonathan Bellamy – 39 Essex Chambers ‘Excellent advocacy skills and not afraid to tackle difficult issues.’
Peter Brogden – Keating Chambers ‘Amazingly good at dealing with complex technological cases.’
Richard Coplin – Keating Chambers ‘Stays calm under pressure and is a skilled advocate.’
Robert Fenwick Elliott – Keating Chambers ‘Very experienced, great counsel and knows the field well.’
Jane Davies Evans – 3 Verulam Buildings ‘A very safe pair of hands, with huge experience of major construction projects.’
Denys Hickey – 39 Essex Chambers
David Hopkins – 39 Essex Chambers
Samar Abbas Kazmi – Atkin Chambers ‘Unrivalled in terms of stamina and energy.’
Ben Olbourne – 39 Essex Chambers
Andrew Pullen – Fountain Court Chambers
Andrew Stevens – 4 Pump Court ‘Professional, hard working, smart and has a good understanding of clients’ demands.’

Rising Stars

Mathias Cheung – Atkin Chambers ‘Exceeds pre-requisites for a junior barrister.’
James Frampton – Keating Chambers ‘He is proactive, thorough, collaborative and critical in his approach to legal argument and strategy.’
Robert Scrivener – 4 Pump Court ‘Brilliantly inquisitive on subtle and major points alike, and unbeatable in strategic considerations.’

Construction, energy and infrastructure in Asia Pacific: The English Bar

39 Essex Chambers

With offices in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, 39 Essex Chambers shows ‘great strength in depth’ in construction, energy and infrastructure matters across the Asia Pacific region. Adrian Hughes QC has a well-established international construction arbitration practice and acts as counsel for law firms and clients across Asia, with a particular focus on matters with a Chinese connection. Peter Rees QC is recognised as an experienced advocate and arbitrator, with a track record including senior roles in law firms and in-house in the natural resources industry, and handles arbitration cases in the energy, construction and engineering sectors; while qualified mechanical and electrical engineer Charles Manzoni QC handles work in mediations and arbitrations, as well as counsel in Hong Kong, where he is admitted to the local Bar and also a full member of Temple Chambers as well.

Testimonials

Set

‘Excellent with great strength in depth.’

‘Deep bench of barristers across all levels for construction disputes.’

‘39 Essex is known and regarded as a good set for construction.’

Clerking

‘The clerks are a pleasure to deal with.’

4 Pump Court

4 Pump Court covers a broad range of construction, energy and infrastructure matters, and is noted for its ‘strength in depth’ in construction disputes involving oil and gas infrastructure projects, in addition to other matters in those industry. ‘Experienced construction barristers’ and key contacts include Sean Brannigan QC, John Rowland QC, who is a member of the member of the English Bar and the Victorian Bar (where he is a member of 11th Floor St James’ Hall), and Sean O’Sullivan QC. The set receives instructions primarily from China, as well as Hong Kong, Singapore and India, and has seen an increase in work relating to energy projects in Australia.

Testimonials

Set

‘4 Pump Court has experienced construction barristers. The set as a whole is good in terms of strength and availability of counsel.’

‘Excellent set with proper strength in depth.’

Clerking

‘A very helpful and professional clerking team. Stewart Gibbs is a pleasure to work with. He always makes himself available and is incredibly helpful.’

‘Carl Wall is very good, user-friendly and client orientated.’

Atkin Chambers

Praised as a ‘premier construction set’ and highly regarded by law firms across the Asia Pacific region, members of Atkin Chambers are eminent in the construction, engineering and infrastructure sectors, with international disputes taking up a significant proportion of their time in this space. The set houses ‘top notch QCs and juniors’ who are accustomed to the main international arbitral institutions. Energy projects continue to feature heavily in members’ caseloads, and the set has seen a growth in the number of transport disputes arising in the region. Andrew White QC is well-established in the region and is noted for his expertise in shipbuilding, oil and gas, engineering and rail disputes, while Nicholas Dennys QC is increasingly appointed as an arbitrator in Korea, Singapore and India.

Testimonials

Set

‘Excellent specialist chambers. Always a good range of experienced construction counsel available, as well as knowledgeable and responsive clerks.’

‘An outstanding set with deep bench strength of top experts in construction arbitration. Equally impressed with the quality of the juniors.’

‘Atkin Chambers is the premier construction set.’

‘Atkin chambers has a wealth of experience in construction and energy disputes and is rightfully seen as one of the best. They have top notch QCs and juniors.’

‘Excellent construction set with a heavyweight stable of construction barristers.’

Clerking

‘Andrew Burrows is very responsive, pragmatic and helpful. Likewise David Barnes is exceptionally knowledgeable and resourceful.’

‘David Barnes is, quite simply, the best in the business and Justin Wilson is also absolutely first-rate.’

‘Top rate clerking team led by very capable David Barnes. Very in tune with the needs and concerns of clients and prepared to work flexibly to meet exigencies.’

‘David Barnes remains the gold standard that others try to emulate. Good at building and maintaining relationships with solicitors.’

Fountain Court Chambers

Fountain Court Chambers’ construction, energy and infrastructure practice continues to grow, following the arrival of Anneliese Day QC, who has an established reputation for acting as both advocate and arbitrator in ultra-high value disputes, particularly in Singapore and Australia. Andrew Pullen is also a key member and is instructed on a range of construction and energy matters, primarily arbitrations seated in Singapore, where he is based.

Keating Chambers

Keating Chambers is recognised as ‘one of the best sets for construction and engineering work’ in Asia Pacific and ‘remains a safe bet for any complex construction dispute, with an unrivalled selection of bright and able advocates’. Members provide an impressive depth of expertise on a broad range of arbitrations, including ICC, LCIA, DIAC, HKIAC and SIAC. Philip Boulding QC’s clients include local authorities, government departments, national and international construction and engineering companies in Macau and the Philippines, and more recently Singapore and Australia. Several members have dual qualifications as engineers, including renowned arbitrator Robert Gaitskell QC, who specialises in engineering and energy matters in Singapore and Hong Kong. Adam Constable QC is active in construction disputes involving parties in Qatar, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Testimonials

Set

‘Keating remains a very safe bet for any complex construction dispute, with an unrivalled selection of bright and able advocates.’

‘Great depth as specialist set. Large amount of top silks and renowned arbitrators.’

‘One of the best sets for construction and engineering work.’

‘Very strong in construction, backed up by very helpful clerking team.’

Clerking

‘A very helpful and professional clerking team. James Luxmoore is a standout.’

‘The clerking team is focused on delivery and achieving what clients want. They are laser focused.’

‘Declan Redmond is exceptional and always makes an effort to spend time with Keating Chamber clients when he can travel.’

‘The clerks are a pleasure to deal with. They can always find a solution, even at short notice.’

Quadrant Chambers

In addition to its well-known position as an elite set for marine work, one of Quadrant Chambers’ primary areas of focus is the energy and natural resources sectors, where its experienced members act as advocates on a broad spectrum of mandates, particularly in the oil and gas industry, including both upstream and downstream matters. Simon Croall QC is active in Southeast Asia and China, and is instructed on energy disputes involving the exploration and extraction of natural resources, the construction of offshore infrastructure and the financing of energy projects.

Testimonials

Set

‘Quadrant is breaking out of the mould of being known as a “shipping” set.’

Clerking

‘Simon Slattery stands out as approachable, flexible and always able to find the right person for a case.’

‘The clerking service is very professional and impressive.’

Twenty Essex

Twenty Essex is carving a reputation for its work in the energy space, with its members engaged in the full range of oil and gas, nuclear, renewables and mining disputes. While members are experienced in handling construction and engineering matters, the set also demonstrates expertise in the renewables market. Duncan Matthews QC is the joint head of chambers and his practice spans upstream, midstream and downstream disputes in the energy and natural resources sector. Nakul Dewan SA practises from Singapore and Delhi, as well as London.

Testimonials

Clerking

‘The clerks are always available and responsive. They are also a massive help in liaising with the court to smooth over arrangements.’

‘Always provide timely service.’