Construction Disputes Associate/Senior Associate (5+ PQE) - Bristol, Birmingham or Leeds

The role

As our construction team continues to grow, we are looking for an experienced Associate or Senior Associate to work from either our Birmingham, Bristol or Leeds office, as part of the team focusing on contentious construction dispute resolution and advisory work.

Our national construction team currently has 5 partners, and has ambitious plans for future growth at all levels. You will be involved in advising on a wide range of construction dispute matters, ranging from traditional final account/loss and expense type claims, to significant defect issues and PFI/projects disputes.

Our panel appointments mean that you will have the opportunity to work on high value, complex instructions including local authorities, NHS Trusts and housing associations. The wider relationships within the construction team will also expose you to working within the wider construction industry, including developers, funders and contractors. Some recent examples include:

• A significant Court of Appeal win in relation PFI dispute resolution procedures
• A £30 million plus dispute for an NHS Trust arising from late completion, significant compensation event claims and defects on the construction of a high profile mental health facility;
• Multiple high-value claims arising from non-compliant cladding replacement at 65 building high rise development in East London;
• A successful £23 million PFI highways adjudication for a local authority arising from previously certified milestones;
• A multi-million pound adjudication for a global engineering company in respect of a dispute over payments;
• Acting for a subcontractor in a contract adjudication under NEC 3, dispute resolution clause W1 for claim value of over £1m relating to additional time and cost
• Acting for an authority in examining the impact of the change in environmental legislation on the construction of an energy from waste PFI project, and the contractual responsibility for the capital costs to be incurred as a consequences, which are estimated at £30m.

Join a team of experts and progressive thinkers

We are proud to have a nationally recognised, award winning construction disputes team, led by expert Partners including:

• Louise Robling, who heads the team and is based in Bristol. Louise is recognised as a "Leading Individual" in Legal 500 (where our Bristol construction practice is ranked in Band One);
• Judith Hopper, who is based in our Leeds office and specialises in PFI/ PPP and projects disputes. Judith is a recommended lawyer in Legal 500 (where our Leeds construction practice is ranked in Band Three);
• Sarah Wilson, who is also based in our Leeds office and works on a range of construction disputes, including a number of adjudications primarily on behalf of contractors. Sarah is also a recommended lawyer in Legal 500.

Our contentious team is based in Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds; our transactional colleagues work across all four of our offices. We routinely work across different offices and truly operate as a national team.

Bevan Brittan has strong recognition in the independent legal directories for its construction practice - Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. In both guides we are consistently ranked in the top tier for our practices across the UK, with multiple individuals recognised as leading lawyers.

What We Are Looking For From You

The successful candidate will have the ability to manage their own time efficiently, possess excellent drafting and legal analysis skills and have an ability to liaise effectively with clients. Given the nature of the work the team undertakes, PFI experience is desirable, but not essential for the role.

Most importantly, we are looking for ambitious lawyers who want to work as part of a high quality team, taking on challenging work in the development of their careers. As a more experienced member of the team, we are keen that our new recruit actively engages in business development in order to support the Partners with their ambitious plans for growth.

We are happy to consider candidates who are looking to work flexibly and welcome applications from those who are seeking a part-time rather than full-time position. There are no requirements in relation to a particular number of days in the office. We prefer our teams to have a high degree of flexibility to determine where they will work from based on client and team needs.

Make a Real Impact

Bevan Brittan is a leading commercial law firm. Alongside our recognised expertise in housing, local government, and health and social care, we are specialists in the construction, energy and resource management, higher education and financial services sectors.

Supported by valued business services professionals, our award-winning and growing legal teams work together to support almost 2,000 organisations with commercial, corporate, property, finance, regulatory, employment and litigation (commercial and clinical negligence) legal and advisory services.

As a responsible business, we embrace four values: Relationships, Reputation, Responsible and Results. These give us a sense of purpose. They influence the decisions we make and how we work with each other. Importantly, they motivate us to deliver meaningful outcomes for our clients and the communities that we’re part of.

Consistently recognised as one of The Times Best Law Firms and highly ranked across the legal directories, we are proud of our hard-earned reputation. Our 2023/24 financial results confirmed both revenue and profit growth for an eleventh consecutive year, ensuring our ability to continue investing in our people.

As a firm we embrace our differences, we act responsibly, now and for the future and we support you to be your best through our hybrid working model and professional development opportunities.

Looking to the future, we’re targeting ambitious growth and success. And we’re looking for the best people to be part of it.