Harriet Atkin

Harriet is a Partner specialising in contentious construction law.

Harriet has a wide range of litigious experience, including handling litigation, adjudications and adjudication enforcement, as well as mediation, expert determination and other forms of dispute resolution procedure. Harriet acts for all types of clients within the construction industry and has experience of representing lenders, developers, social housing providers, architects, main contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, consultants and so on. Harriet also acts for a number of European clients in relation to their UK projects.

Harriet has developed a particular specialism in assisting clients with technical engineering projects and has recently acted for a number of different clients in relation to various automotive, power generation and marine projects and has conducted multi-million pound litigation and adjudications on behalf of those clients.

Harriet also acts for a number of social housing clients and RPs in relation to major defects claims and Building Safety Act 2022 claims

Harriet manages disputes proactively and is tenacious in her advice on strategy, making the process easy for her clients.

Experience

Harriet’s recent experience includes the following energy, infrastructure and engineering work:

• Acting for a specialist marine contractor on the development of a flagship harbour expansion project in Scotland in numerous multi-million pound adjudications and associated enforcement proceedings, including successfully securing an adjudicator’s award for a £13.7million ‘notified sum’ claim.
• Acting for a civils contractor on the construction of a major flood protection scheme in Scotland to include winning a notified sum adjudication for £1.3million and defending a cross-valuation dispute issued by the main contractor to ultimately settle the matter.
• Acting for a solar client (on a BESS scheme) to defend a notified sum claim and to challenge the enforcement of the adjudicator’s decision based on the “power generation” exclusion from the Housing Grants, Regeneration and Construction Act 1996 (as amended).
• Acting for an electrical engineering client in relation to an extension of time and valuation dispute on a BESS contract; winning a £1.2million notified sum claim for the client before resolving the wider EoT dispute via a settlement.
• Acting for the employer on the development of a major water bottling facility to defend claims from the main contractor and other specialist sub-contractors relating to extension of time and loss & expense – including a c.£30million final account dispute.
• Acting for a solar client on a project in Kazakhstan in relation to an unpaid amount due to the client under an EPC contract, in circumstances where promised additional/future work had not been awarded.
• Acting for a major utilities contractor in an £8million final account adjudication against a DNO and negotiating a significant settlement on behalf of the client.
• Acting on a combined solar and BESS scheme, where the client’s NEC3 sub-contract had been terminated, to pursue claims for loss of profit on the project.
• Advising on multiple sub-contractor EoT and payment disputes, as well as an upstream dispute relating to EoT, for the main contractor on an energy from waste power station.
• Acting for the main contractor on the development of the coal fired power station in Carrington, Manchester on multiple adjudications and disputes with sub-contractors, including the reported case of Severfield (UK) Ltd v Duro Felguera UK Ltd [2015] EWHC 2975 (TCC).
• Assisting a utilities client to reach a settlement for significant outstanding payments under a fibre connections framework agreement.
• Acting for a main contractor on a power station project to advance a call on a Bond to compensate the client for the insolvency of one of its sub-contractors.
• Acting for a steelwork contractor in connection with a payment dispute on a major London port development to negotiate a favourable settlement of court proceedings.
• Acting for a sub-contractor in a multi-million pound claim relating to the design, manufacture and installation of press tooling for a car manufacturing facility.
• Advising a large scaffolding/access work sub-contractor in connection with a dispute arising out of the construction of an aircraft carrier.
• Acting for the sub-contractor in relation to a dispute with the main contractor concerning delays to the completion of the design and construction of a cryogenic storage plant.

Harriet also acts for private sector clients and registered social housing providers in relation to their disputes, including in relation to fire safety/cladding and the Building Safety Act 2022. Recent examples include:

• Successfully defending a £1million technical knockout / ‘notified sum’ adjudication on behalf of a developer client and handling Part 8 Proceedings arising out of the adjudication – Claremont Group Interiors Ltd v Boultbee Ldn (Marylebone) Ltd [2018] 11 WLUK 380
• Acting for a social housing client to successfully defend a multi-million pound defects claim on a large development in London, including advising the client on cladding and fire safety aspects and instructing multiple technical experts to guide the client through an expert determination.
• Acting for the main contractor on a multi-million pound residential development in multiple adjudications to successfully defend allegations of significant defects and to procure the payment of substantial outstanding sums due to the main contractor.
• The negotiation of a £3.8million settlement with the PI Insurers of an insolvent main contractor on a flagship scheme in central London, where extensive cladding defects and other latent defects had to be remediated by the RP client and there was an obligation to recover/repay monies obtained via the Building Safety Fund.
• Successfully negotiating a complex multi-million pound cladding remedial scheme (at no cost to the client) on a development in Brighton in resolution of a claim against a major European contractor on behalf of an RP client.
• Advising an RP client on several schemes with fire safety defects which were developed by the same contractor who entered into a CVA and later Administration – to include issuing an application for a Building Liability Order.
• Assisting and advising an RP client on a scheme where it was not the freeholder but had been involved in the original development of the scheme and now owns a number of leasehold interests in the building – including threatening a Remediation Order against the freeholder in order to force a successful application for Building Safety Funding to reduce and manage the client’s exposure for remediation costs under the Building Safety Act 2022 and/or via the building service charge.
• Advising a social housing client in relation to multiple schemes with fire safety defects to pursue building contractors, warranty providers, professional consultants and insurers.
• Acting for an RP client in relation to a severely delayed cladding remediation scheme at one of their flagship developments in London to include managing the EoT claim from the contractor, advising on the applicability of liquidated damages and instructing a specialist programming expert.