COVID-19: Contractual & Commercial Issues As Infrastructure Heads For The ‘New Normal’

HKA and Pinsent Masons are proud to present, in partnership with OCAJI, a webinar focussing on practical legal and contractual issues arising from the ‘new normal’ for infrastructure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our panel of industry experts will consider a number of key issues and answer questions on the following topics:

• Recovery trends and intelligence from around the globe
• Encouraging production across the supply chain
• Delay & disruption: entitlement, causation and proof insolvency: preemptive and response strategies
• Charting the path: record-keeping & best practice

Benjamin Highfield
Partner and Head of Asia, HKA

Benjamin Highfield is the Head of Asia and a claims and disputes specialist at HKA. He has more than 15 years’ major project experience in the construction industry, spanning buildings, transportation infrastructure, oil and gas, power and water markets. Additionally, he regularly advises clients on commercial and contractual matters, as well as claims management and dispute resolution.

Benjamin has led teams on multiple oil and gas, water and power projects and has negotiated high value settlements with major governmental organisations. With his extensive experience of many of the major standard forms of contract, he has been employed by government bodies and large private companies to advise on a range of broad and diverse matters.

Benjamin is an experienced delay and quantum analyst and has prepared multiple claims for extension of time, disruption, prolongation and acceleration. He has drafted detailed contractual arguments for disputed variations, termination, suspension and arbitration amongst others.

Nicholas Brown
Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP

Nicholas is a Partner with 23 years’ experience in advising on, and documenting, large capital works transactions in private developments, public works, and PPPs, across a range of sectors throughout the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Australia.  He combines this experience with a busy practice in advising and representing project participants in the resolution of commercial disputes arising on infrastructure and energy projects across those three regions and more recently South Africa, including as counsel or panelist in international commercial arbitral proceedings.

He is a qualified lawyer in Australia, England & Wales and Hong Kong and is a panellist of several arbitral centres.  He is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.