The construction and procurement law practice at Bird & Bird stands out for its focus on energy-related sectors, often assisting with construction issues within utilities and infrastructure. Disputes handled by the team often involve construction damage to infrastructure. Andrea Chao and Evelyn Tjon-En-Fa jointly lead the team. Chao is the go-to for advice on construction contracts, while Tjon-En-Fa is an expert in complex infrastructure and construction commercial disputes. Remco Duijn is noted.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Approachable attitude. Working together on projects respectfully. Collaboration construction industry contracts (Andrea Chao) are innovative.'

  • ‘For me Andrea Chao is an excellent partner at Bird & Bird. Andrea has outstanding knowledge of her work field and is inventive. Dead end streets do not exist in her dictionary. She will continue to look for a solution to solve a problem. That is what a client wants. Not only is she engaged with international collaboration contracts, she also collaborates well with colleagues.’

  • ‘Bird & Bird, especially Andrea Chao is strong in approachability and with her collaboration experience knows how to draft collaboration contracts in a way that avoids future issues. Also has practical experience on the client side and on the contractor side.’

  • ‘We cannot give enough praise for Andrea Chao. We are always really happy if we can work with her. In negotiation processes she is a great combination of (i) sharp/critical and (ii) friendly/solution minded. As a client it is very important that your lawyer represents you in a way that reflects your own business attitude and Andrea seems well aware of that.'

  • ‘Remco Duijn is also a great to work with.’

  • ‘Bird & Bird has very skilled people in there team who do everything they can to support the client. There is a strong focus on collaboration, thinking outside the box and viewing issue from different angles. ’

  • ‘Andrea Chao specifically has proven to be an out-of-the-box thinker, ready to go outside of the legal silos and also have a look at concepts from economics for example. She's driven to make construction projects as a whole successful and thinks diligently about the broader trade-offs contractual decisions lead to. She challenges standard approaches and proved time and time again, that there are ways to solve things that many people consider difficult or impossible to do.’

Key clients

  • BioBTX B.V.
  • Boele & Van Eesteren B.V.
  • Circular Industries BV
  • Green Create B.V.
  • GroenLeven B.V.
  • Gutami
  • Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier
  • Landsnet [Icelandic Grid Connector]
  • Municipality of Amsterdam
  • NLSH (National Hospital of Iceland)
  • Pfalzsolar GmbH
  • Tauw B.V.
  • T-Mobile
  • Veolia Nederland B.V.
  • Visser & Smit Bouw B.V.
  • Volker Wessels N.V. and subsidiairies
  • Water Authority Rijnland

Work highlights

  • Advising Veolia on several construction and O&M projects and in various legal proceedings.
  • Advising the Icelandic Grid connector Landsnet on the repair of a broken offshore grid connection, a highly complex subsea power cable project.
  • Representing a large US multinational company that operates inter alia in building technologies in legal proceedings pertaining to claims resulting for a complex building project in the Netherlands involving over 200 constructors.

Lawyers

Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Andrea Chao, Evelyn Tjon-En-Fa

Other key lawyers

Roger van Buuren, Laura Grijpma, Mariam Ali, Remco Duijn, Marieke van den Heuvel, Jeffrey Maalderink