Law firm Addleshaw Goddard has announced the appointment of Construction heavyweights Paul O' Kane (outgoing national head of construction at DWF) and Paul Barge (outgoing head of DWF's Manchester construction team) to its North West Construction team. Also joining the two partners from DWF are six associates, who also specialise in Construction and Engineering law. The appointments add significant bench strength to an already pre-eminent construction practice in the North West.
The appointment follows the recent arrival of DWF's head of Northern Planning team, Glenn Sharpe, as well as other significant regional hires, including the appointment of corporate heavyweight, Richard Hunt, from Squire Patton Boggs (January 2018) and leading dealmaker, Pete Wood from Pinsent Masons (July 2017) - both to the Leeds office; and the hire of Ursula Gould, a projects expert, from Shoosmiths to the Manchester team (June 2017).
Paul O' Kane – ranked as a leading individual in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners - is an expert on all areas of construction and engineering law, in particular procurement strategy and project structures, development, complex construction, PFI and PPP disputes, as well as adjudication and arbitration, which he supplies to employers, developers and contractors from the public and private sectors.
Paul Barge, outgoing head of DWF's North West team, worked as part of its national sector team, overseeing matters relating to construction contracts, engineering contracts, construction disputes and engineering disputes, working collaboratively to resolve litigation through the courts, arbitration, adjudication or mediation. He specialises in drafting and advising on standard/bespoke construction and engineering contracts and associated documentation such as NEC, ICE, MF1, JCT suites, development and project agreements. He also represents clients in all forms of dispute resolution including litigation, arbitration, adjudication, expert determination and mediation.
Paul Barge joins the team in June and Paul O'Kane in the Autumn. The balance of the team are arriving from March 2018.
Nancy McGuire, AG's Head of Construction, Engineering and Environmental Group, said: "This latest investment is very much part of our significant commitment to our Construction and Engineering practice. The type of work we do is becoming increasingly complex and high profile and we already have one of the largest multi - disciplinary teams in the UK who are working on some of the largest development schemes both nationally and locally. Our diverse practice means we advise employer / developer / contractor heavyweights and public and private sector clients, provide market leading expertise across all sectors including logistics, manufacturing; residential, PRS, public sector schemes and mixed use commercial schemes as well as having a top class construction disputes practice. The arrival of Paul O' Kane, Paul Barge and the six associates is massively complimentary to our existing offering, as well as bringing new opportunities, as we focus on growing market share, and we are delighted to be welcoming them to our team."
