Ben is a partner in the firm’s Energy, Infrastructure and Construction Disputes group. He has managed some of the largest, most complex and high-profile recent international construction disputes, and is particularly specialised in the heavy civil, offshore, oil & gas and renewables industries. He has a very strong record of success in his cases, across a number of different jurisdictions and under most of the major arbitration rules. Ben has also successfully negotiated complex settlements and major contract amendments on behalf on international clients.
Ben is described in Legal 500 UK 2023 as a “star” who “is definitely rising fast. He is a wise head on young shoulders. He wins clients’ trust easily and is really coming into his own as a specialist in offshore construction disputes”. Sources also say Ben is “excellent. He is always on top of the detail – he displays creativity in terms of working out what the best points are and how to get them across. Very easy to work with” (Legal 500 UK 2022).
Prior to his career in private practice, Ben worked for a multinational defence contractor in Washington D.C. Ben is admitted in England as a Solicitor Advocate.
College of Law, LL.B, First Class Honours, 2014
University of Cambridge, B.A. History, First Class Honours (Scholar, Corpus Christi College, top in year in advanced topic paper, Boutwood Prize for undergraduate finals results) 2010
Legal 500 UK, Real Estate: Construction, 2023 and 2024
Global Arbitration Review GAR 30, 2024
Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
· Acting on a number of high value ICC and investment treaty arbitrations, multiple referrals to a Dispute Adjudication Board and satellite litigation in US Federal Court, in connection with the design and construction of a major maritime project in Central America.
· Advising an international contractor in relation to issues arising out of the construction of an offshore wind farm.
· Advising on a post-M&A dispute opposite a US public company which manufactures technology for the aerospace, automotive, communications, defence, energy, and infrastructure industries.
· Representing a contractor in adjudication proceedings against a sub-contractor in relation to issues arising out of the construction of an offshore wind farm.
· Advising an international contractor in relation to a wind farm project in the Far East.
· Advising a major European group in relation to issues arising out of the termination of a major construction project in Uganda.
· Advising an international consortium on a high value tax dispute in connection with the construction of a major energy project in Africa.
· Advising the contractor consortium on an LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal in Europe.
· Acting for a European contractor in a billion dollar ICC arbitration arising out of the cancellation of a major offshore pipeline project.
· Representing a major Saudi Arabian contractor in ICC proceedings in relation to the construction of a gas-fired combined heat and power plant.
· Representing an International Financial Institution in arbitration proceedings against a mining company concerning a multimillion dollar loan dispute.
· Representing an international pharmaceutical company in multiple parallel arbitration proceedings concerning insurance coverage disputes.
· Representing a private equity company in parallel ICC arbitrations in relation to a breach of warranty dispute.
· Representing an international EPC contractor and specialist waste-to-energy plant provider in major disputes concerning the design of a waste-to-energy plant in the UK.
· Representing a utilities contractor in an adjudication brought by a consortium partner in a dispute concerning the design and construction of a substation.
· Representing a contractor in an adjudication over disputes payments in relation to equipment and materials handling services.
· Representing investors in expropriation and unfair treatment claim against the Republic of Costa Rica under the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (“DR-CAFTA”).
