Pinsent Masons LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

In 2011 Pinsents advised Barclays, the Co-Operative Bank and Santander in their provision of funding for Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’s 25 year housing and regeneration project, and the construction team also counts Wembley National Stadium, Black & Veatch and numerous UK contractors on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link among its clients. Head of the construction sector group, Richard Laudy leads a contingent of six London-based lawyers in the construction chapter and is roundly praised by peers for his strategic advice to construction and engineering contractors. North of the border, head of client strategy Alastair Morrison is a “big name” in Glasgow. John Bishop is head of the firm’s Beijing office and a “major figure” in construction and engineering law in the Asia-Pacific region, with experience acting in projects in the natural resources, transport and power sectors. An arbitrator, TeCSA-accredited adjudicator and CEDR-accredited mediator, Bishop is also highlighted as a “leading light” in the firm’s disputes practice, ranking highly in both the arbitration and mediation chapters, with Birmingham’s Andrew Paton earning an additional listing in the latter section. Pinsents’ China-based construction team is further complemented by the inclusion of Shanghai office head Kian Heong Hew who has advised the State Development and Reform Commission among other notable entities. Representatives from the firm’s offices in Hong Kong and Singapore add their names to the construction chapter, as does Dubai-based Michelle Nelson whose arbitration expertise is held in high regard by sources.

Pinsents recently advised Green Frog Power and its partner InfraRed Capital Partners on the £80 million project financing for the development of 14 diesel-fired STOR electricity plants across the UK. Singapore’s David Platt represents the firm in both the project finance and oil and gas chapters, and is particularly well regarded for his expertise in emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, with sources praising him as an “exceptional practitioner”. Two lawyers from Birmingham join Jennifer Robinson in London to give the firm a strong presence in the public procurement chapter, following recent high-profile work for Peterborough City Council.

Paul Rice heads Pinsents’ energy sector and environmental law group out of the London office and has recently advised on nuclear liability regimes and market entry in the UK, South Africa and China as well as on schemes for the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. He ranks highly in the environment chapter alongside Glasgow’s Gordon McCreath, whose work for water, power and waste companies as well as public entities is “first rate”.