Contentious Construction Senior Associate

Our highly regarded Contentious Construction team is recruiting a talented Senior Associate to join our national practice. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious lawyer seeking high-quality work across a broad range of complex and high-profile construction and engineering projects. Working alongside market-leading specialists, you will advise a diverse client base including developers, contractors, consultants, funders, investors, and public sector bodies. Our team acts on issues arising from some of the UK's most significant development, regeneration, infrastructure, and energy projects.

You will support clients on dispute avoidance, project risk management, and strategic project issues, as well as undertaking adjudication, litigation, arbitration, and ADR proceedings when disputes arise. We combine exceptional client work with a collaborative and supportive culture, offering early responsibility, direct client exposure, and the opportunity to play a key role in growing our advisory and disputes construction offering.

Your work will include:

• Advising clients on a broad range of contentious construction and engineering matters.
• Acting in adjudications, High Court litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution processes.
• Advising on disputes arising under JCT, NEC, and bespoke construction contracts.
• Supporting clients with project risk management, dispute avoidance, and strategic commercial advice.
• Working closely with colleagues across Construction, Real Estate, Energy & Infrastructure, Corporate, and Restructuring teams to provide integrated solutions.
• Managing client relationships and contributing to business development initiatives.
• Supervising and mentoring junior lawyers within the team.

Our Contentious Construction team is recognised for delivering commercially focused advice on complex disputes and project issues across a wide range of sectors, including commercial real estate, residential development, infrastructure, energy, and the public sector. We work with clients throughout the project lifecycle, helping them manage risk, avoid disputes where possible, and successfully resolve issues when they arise. Our approach is pragmatic, collaborative, and focused on achieving the best commercial outcome for our clients.

We embrace flexible hybrid working, with team members typically working at least three days per week from the office to support collaboration, learning, and team connection.

We are interested in candidates with strong technical expertise alongside excellent commercial judgment and a proactive approach to client service.

Essential:

• Qualified solicitor with 3+ years' PQE gained within a recognised contentious construction practice.
• Strong experience advising on construction and engineering disputes.
• Experience of adjudication, litigation, and/or arbitration processes.
• Excellent technical, analytical, and drafting skills combined with strong commercial awareness.
• Ability to manage matters and workstreams independently.
• Strong relationship-building skills and a commitment to client service excellence.
• Experience supervising and mentoring junior lawyers.
• A collaborative approach and enthusiasm for business development.

Desirable:

• Experience advising on disputes arising from major development, regeneration, infrastructure, or energy projects.
• Familiarity with professional negligence, defects, delay, disruption, and final account disputes.
• Experience providing strategic project support and dispute avoidance advice.
• Existing client relationships and a proven track record in business development.