The ‘dedicated and hardworking’ team at Watson Farley & Williams LLP is known for its energy transition capabilities, as well as its expertise acting on disputes related to building safety and cladding work. Rebecca Williams leads the practice, and has strong knowledge of energy and infrastructure projects, and power project disputes. Theresa Mohammed handles international and domestic energy project disputes and has expertise in domestic litigation and arbitration. Other key team members include Ryland Ash, who handles adjudication matters concerning domestic infrastructure projects, and Barry Hembling, who represents clients in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Technology and Construction Court. Alexander Creswick further strengthens the team, with a focus on construction disputes in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- The team's responsiveness is second to none. All members of the team (in particular at partner level) make themselves available at short notice, at weekends, etc., so you have confidence that matters are being considered and progressed. I particularly value the team's ability to provide practical, real-world advice which assists the project teams with issues at the site as they arise.
- Rebecca Williams is invaluable on complex construction projects in distress. She provides practical advice and is incredibly energetic and proactive; she identifies and is on top of issues you didn't know were coming and has seen it all. For a busy in-house legal team, there is a palpable feeling of relief when she gets involved. Alex Creswick has become my go-to lawyer for any tricky issue. Aside from his knowledge and experience (a given at this level), his judgment is excellent. He is brilliant on adjudications—creative and very bright, but teamed with good old hard work.
- The team has an excellent mix of backgrounds, experience, and expertise with an emphasis on disputes in energy and infrastructure. The firm offers a flexible approach to funding and billing. A number of team members are fluent in several languages, including Mandarin. This gives an edge in international disputes. The firm uses the latest disclosure technology to search and manage documents. This enables very heavy cases to be managed effectively and efficiently.
- Theresa Mohammed takes the time to listen to her clients and effectively obtains the outcome they need in whatever way will best achieve the goal.
- A heavyweight team for construction disputes.
- We worked with Rebecca Williams (Partner), and she was always on hand to provide sensible advice as needed. Rebecca is very dedicated and provided much-needed sound commercial advice to us as part of a challenging and rapidly evolving situation. An honorable mention also goes to Elliott Macdonald (Senior Associate), who also supported and was consistently on hand to provide insight as needed.
Key clients
- Tarhouse Management
- A2Dominion
- Abbey Healthcare
- Ardmore Group
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
- Bouygues Construction
- BP Pension Fund
- Pharos Offshore Group Limited
- Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
- VINCI Group
- Zaha Hadid Architects
Work highlights
Acting for the claimants in a long-running dispute about defects at a care home.
Acting for the BP Pension in London’s High Court (Technology and Construction Court) regarding a claim concerning defects at a student accommodation block in Manchester.
Acting for Pharos Offshore Group Limited in a claim against Keynvor Morlift Ltd (“KML”) for sums owed in relation to the hire of a remotely operated jet trenching vehicle.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Rebecca Williams
Other key lawyers
Theresa Mohammed; Ryland Ash; Barry Hembling; Alexander Creswick