Keating Chambers

Mercy enjoys acting as sole counsel and undertaking led work as part of a wider legal team. She has recently been instructed:

• as sole counsel in a c£5.5 million professional negligence adjudication concerning alleged fire safety (cladding, insulation and cavity barriers) defects in a large student residential development, successfully arguing (on behalf of the Responding Party Architect) for the dismissal of the Referring Party’s claims in full;
• in a multi-million euro international arbitration concerning the use of a pioneering anaerobic digestion technology at a waste- to-energy plant (led by Fionnuala McCredie KC and William Webb KC);
• in an ongoing multi-party TCC dispute regarding defective drainage systems at a large residential development (led by Paul Bury);
• in a fire safety dispute concerning matters of principle arising from Martlet Homes Limited v Mulalley & Co. Limited [2022] EWHC 1813 (TCC) (the first decision from the TCC on fire safety (external wall insulation) following Grenfell)), the Developer Remediation Contract and the use of PAS 9980:2022 (led by Simon Hughes KC); and
• in the UK Covid19 Inquiry (Module 4) as part of the junior counsel team instructed by the UK Department of Health and Social Care (led by Sam Stein KC and Abdul Jinadu).

Mercy has experience with all common standard forms including the JCT, NEC, FIDIC, as well as bespoke construction contracts and PFI agreements. She has a particular interest in NEC and is a contributing author of Keating on NEC (2nd edition) which provides commentary on NEC3 and NEC4 standard forms. She is also a contributor to the Arbitration chapter in Keating on Construction Contracts 12th Ed.

Mercy regularly appears in Court and has spent time in the Court of Appeal marshalling Coulson LJ in Providence Building Services Ltd v Hexagon Housing Association Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 962, a landmark decision concerning the proper construction of JCT DB (2016) termination (for late payment) provisions.

Mercy accepts instructions to advise, draft pleadings, and represent clients in litigating a broad range of commercial matters, with an emphasis on construction and engineering contracts and related professional negligence matters.