Paul is a leading construction and insurance lawyer who qualified in England and Wales in 2009, and is continually recommended in The Legal 500 UK guide to leading lawyers in the country.
Paul’s practice focuses on matters pertaining to the construction industry, and in particular its associated insurance arrangements, covering both policy coverage and defence.
He holds a number of strategic leadership roles in the formation of public policy concerning the regulation of the construction industry, and has been appointed to advise the UK Government on the regulation of building safety and the remediation of defective building safety systems.
Paul has many years’ experience of advising clients in connection with high-value, technical, multi-party disputes across all major dispute resolution fora including litigation, adjudication and arbitration. This includes advice in connection with project insurance arrangements and acting for insurers when claims are advanced against their insured clients. Those disputes frequently concern claims arising from defective design, delay, programming and defective workmanship.
Paul’s practice covers a wide range of major insurers and construction organisations including construction professionals and contractors, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers and approved building inspectors. Paul has spent time in-house within both the insurance and construction industries.
In recent years Paul has advised on a number of significant actions before the English courts, including:
- Blackpool Borough Council v Volkerfitzpatrick [2020]
- Octagon Healthcare Limited v John Laing Construction Limited
- Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd v David Chipperfield and Hoare Lea LLP
- Multiplex Construction Europe Limited v (1) Bathgate Realisations Civil Engineering Ltd (in administration), (2) BRM Construction LLC, (3) Argo Global Syndicate 1200 [2021]
- Shepherd Construction Limited v Kingspan Limited and Others
- A core participant of the Grenfell Inquiry and its insurers.
Paul is also a member of the Strategic Leadership Group of the Get It Right Initiative and sits as a member of the RIBA's Professional Conduct Panel.
He is also a member of the Society of Construction Law (SCL), the Technology and Construction Solicitors' Association (TeCSA) and a regular commentator on construction, engineering and related insurance issues.
