Keating Chambers

Described in the directories as “superb”, “a future star”, “super-clever” and “incredibly effective”, Callum Monro Morrison is recommended in the fields of construction, international arbitration and professional negligence as “a cool-headed, analytical junior counsel, who is wise beyond his years”, “brilliant at pleading and dealing with tricky points of law”, and an advocate who “can always be relied upon to put forward robust arguments, even in difficult situations”. He is also featured in Doyle’s Guide as Leading Construction Law Junior Counsel.

Callum acts as a specialist advocate in commercial disputes arising from construction, engineering, energy, IT, infrastructure and offshore/marine projects, whether as sole counsel or as junior counsel in larger legal teams. Endorsed by professional clients as “a natural when it comes to construction-specific matters” and “an excellent team player”, he is instructed in both international and domestic cases and particularly relishes disputes involving complex engineering issues. Callum is also a contributing author of Keating on Construction Contracts, Keating on Offshore Construction and Marine Engineering Contracts and the Construction Law Reports. He has extensive experience with all common standard form construction contracts, including the JCT, NEC, FIDIC, IChemE and RIBA forms, as well as PFI and shipbuilding contracts.

Callum regularly represents clients in the High Court, County Court and in adjudications in his own right. He has experience of appellate advocacy in the Court of Appeal. Recent highlights include acting:

• for a claimant engineering contractor in an international arbitration concerning an offshore oil and gas project in Africa (led by Paul Buckingham KC);
• for a respondent engineering contractor in a five-week trial concerning the use of a pioneering anaerobic digestion technology at a waste-to-energy plant (led by Fionnuala McCredie KC and William Webb KC);
• as sole counsel in a two-day trial concerning a residential renovation project, following which Callum’s client received a substantial settlement payment prior to handing down of the judgment;
• on behalf of a public authority in a multi-million-pound adjudication and subsequent arbitration concerning the authority’s entitlement to make significant deductions from the contractor’s payments under a long-term PFI contract (led by Paul Buckingham KC);
• as sole counsel in a c. £1.7 million adjudication concerning a project manager’s entitlement to payment of a development profit fee, decided in favour of Callum’s client;
• on behalf of a shipbuilder in two separate international arbitrations concerning the termination of two construction contracts for state-of-the-art semi-submersible offshore drilling rigs (led by Adam Constable KC, now Constable J);
• on behalf of an investment fund in TCC proceedings concerning a multi-million-pound retail and residential development, in which the fund was successful in the Court of Appeal (led by Jonathan Selby KC – see [2022] 1 WLR 878); and
• on behalf of a public authority in TCC proceedings concerning unsafe cladding and other fire safety defects in residential tower blocks (led by Simon Hughes KC).

Callum accepts instructions to advise, draft pleadings and represent clients in relation to their commercial disputes, with a focus on construction and engineering contracts and associated professional negligence matters.

Paralegal (Energy & Natural Resources Group) - Reed Smith LLP 2018, Called to the Bar - Inner Temple 2018, Pupil - Keating Chambers 2018-2019, Tenant - Keating Chambers 2019

English, French (conversational)

BA Archaeology & Anthropology - Hertford College, University of Oxford (First Class Honours) 2010-2013, MSc Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology - St Cross College, University of Oxford (Distinction) 2015-2016, Bar Professional Training Course - City Law School (Outstanding in Commercial Law, Civil Advocacy, ADR) 2016-2017

Callum is a keen rock climber, Japanese art enthusiast and record collector/DJ.