Sarah Mather

Legal Director | London, United Kingdom
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Profile

Sarah is a legal director based in Kennedys’ London office. She qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2007, at another international law-firm.

Sarah specialises in contentious construction matters and represents construction clients at all stages of the supply chain, domestically and internationally. She has experience in all forms of dispute resolution, namely mediation, expert determination, dispute boards, adjudication, arbitration, litigation and enforcement. She often provides project counsel advice on live projects.   

For a number of years, Sarah lived and practiced in Dubai where she ran arbitrations and court proceedings under Civil Codes, across the GCC. She has continued to work on a number of wide-ranging international matters whilst in London, alongside High Court matters and adjudications.

Qualifications

  • Qualified in England and Wales in 2007 and, prior to that, studied at Nottingham Law School and Cambridge University.
  • Higher Courts (Civil Advocacy) Qualification in 2018.

Related articles

Case review

Collateral Warranties – To be or not to be a construction contract? That is the Question…

22/07/2024

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Work highlights

  • Defending a $400m + claim against a US engineering outfit in respect of defects at a processing plant in the Middle East. The claim is subject to HK law and is being heard in the HK Courts.
  • Acting for designers on several multi-million dollar disputes arising on Middle Eastern metro projects. The claims were primarily for variations – additional work – where the reasonableness of the design hours claimed was assessed. These matters were subject to ICC arbitration and were settled favourably.
  • Working with French counsel on a successful claim in the French Administrative Courts regarding damage to a sub-sea cable. Acting for the owner of the cable on a claim for repair and business interruption losses. Value €20 m+.
  • Acting on a successful claim for variations and delay on a commercial and residential development in Azerbaijan. Acting for the designer and construction manager. Seat London. English Law. Value $40 m+.
  • Acting for the Claimant on a successful multi-million euro arbitration concerning variations and a change of circumstances under a LOGIC contract for the construction of offshore steel testing apparatus. English Law. Seat Netherlands. Value €21m.
  • Acting for the Claimant subcontractor on a delay claim primarily caused by the MEP subcontractor.  Preparing submissions to the Court of Urgent Matters in Bahrain in order to obtain a declaration to arbitrate before proceeding to a BCDR-AAA arbitration. The matter was settled favourably. Claim amount BD 4m, Bahrain law, seat Bahrain.

Domestic

  • Multi-party High Court litigation in London regarding defective premises (a distribution centre built on made-ground). Instructed by the Claimant-pension fund, resulting in a favourable settlement. Value: £15m+.
  • Defending numerous multi-million £ cladding and fire-stopping claims against developers.
  • Project counsel role on a portfolio of WtE Plants across the UK with amended FIDIC contracts. Defending certain adjudications, regarding whether RDF fuel was in or out of spec and whether the SCADA system was adequate. Also dealing with issues such as purported Force Majeure, given the COVID-19 outbreak.

Services

Sectors