Sarah Williams > The Chambers of Alexander Nissen KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
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15 ESSEX STREET
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Sarah Williams
Position
Sarah Williams is a specialist in construction, engineering and energy disputes, appearing both in the High Court, in international arbitrations and in adjudications. She has recently been involved in on-shore oil and gas international arbitration disputes in the Middle East, litigation involving complex infrastructure in the UK, and fire-related cladding litigation.
Sarah is recognised for the quality of her oral and written advocacy, and her approachable, straightforward style.She is recommended in the directories as one who “ punches above her weight in seniority and is certainly a junior to watch“. She “provides both excellent legal representation and commercial advice and is able to quickly and effectively develop a case strategy”, “her cross-examination has been precise and incisive” and “she is completely on top of the detail”.
Sarah’s practice encompasses a diverse range of disputes, centred on construction, engineering and energy and often on repeat instruction.Recently she has been instructed in an ICC arbitration in respect of issues of termination arising from an oil and gas facility in the Middle East, throughout an LCIA arbitration to final hearing concerning an EPF in the Middle East, and in respect of a Section 68 challenge arising out of that dispute; and in a multi handed TCC dispute regarding defects and consequential losses in a new NHS hospital in the NE of England.
Alongside her practice, Sarah is a Councillor for the Society of Construction Law, in which she chairs the SCL sub-committee on Ethics, Equality and Diversity,and takes responsibility for ‘SCL Astra’ – the branch of SCL for those in their first 10 years in the industry.
In chambers, Sarah sits on the pupillage committee, is a pupil-supervisor, and is the Environmental and Ethical officer for chambers.
Career
Public Access Training, 2015
Barrister, Keating Chambers, 2009
Pupillage, Keating Chambers, 2008-2009
Called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn) 2008
Memberships
COMBAR; SCL; TECBAR.
Education
Keswick School, Keswick; Jesus College, Cambridge (2004 MA Natural Sciences 1st honours); Nottingham Law School (2008 LLB 1st honours).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Construction
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Sarah Williams – Keating Chambers ‘Sarah is extremely organised, into the detail and sees arguments and angles to a claim that no-one else seems to.’
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.