Barton Legal Limited

Construction and Engineering

Director

Bill has specialised in contentious and non-contentious construction for over 30 years, having been a partner with Walker Morris, Watson Burton and DLA Piper.

Bill set up Barton Legal in 2007.

He has particular expertise in drafting and negotiating specialist bespoke contracts whether in relation to wind farms, renewable energy such as solar, biomass, office and industrial developments, colleges or standard construction projects. As a result, he is experienced in drafting amendments to and negotiating not only standard forms of contract such as JCT, NEC and ICE, but also the FIDIC Red and Silver books as well as IChemE Burgundy, Red and Yellow books.

Bill's experience ranges from industrial developments in Hull, to Colleges in Stoke and Lancashire, from Scottish and Welsh wind farms to oil tank farms in Ghana, from construction contracts in Greece to a pharmaceutical plant in Liverpool, from bottling production and supply contracts to PFI contracts, waste management contracts to contracts for Housing Associations.

Bill frequently acts for overseas contractors and in the last year has acted for Chinese contractors in relation to a $300M housing project in the Maldives and a $1.1Billion Dam project in Pakistan.

Bill acts for specialist sub-contractors, colleges and developers providing advice on contracts, adjudication, arbitration and litigation as well as advising foreign clients on international contracts under English Jurisdiction.

A growing area of work is acting on behalf of other law firms that do not have construction expertise.  This is particularly demanding, where there are in effect two clients!

Bill has trained as a mediator and is a Fellow of the Institute of Arbitrators. He has substantial experience in conducting adjudications, mediations and arbitrations as well as litigation within the TCC, ICC and LCIA.

He regularly advises international clients from places as varied as Geneva, Milan, Hamburg and Tunis on their international construction projects.

Bill is also a much sought after conference speaker, as he is known for his dislike of powerpoint and love of audience participation. He has spoken at recent IBA conferences in Washington, Rome and Sydney and Seoul and Miami.  Bill will be speaking at the IBA Paris conference in November 2023.

Bill is also a regular speaker at international conferences on construction and engineering, such as the DRBF and will be speaking at the conference in Istanbul in October 2023.

English

The Law Society

Society of Construction Law

Technology and Construction Solicitors’ Association

International Bar Association -International Construction Projects Group

Institution of Arbitrators

Leeds Law Society – Director

DRBF

FBE

Birmingham Polytechnic

Married for 30 years; 3 children; lived in Leeds for 28 years.

Sport: hockey/cycling/running

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