Legal Counsel - Disputes Specialist (Construction) - #1676746

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

Arcadis is looking for a Legal Counsel - Disputes Specialist (UK & Ireland) to deliver high-quality, commercial, and timely legal support primarily for contentious matters with the ability to advise upon non-contentious matters where capacity allows. The Disputes Specialist will play a critical role in managing disputes and litigation, mitigating risk, and enabling strategic business objectives for the UK & Ireland region.

Location: This role can be in the Bristol or London Office. It can be a Hybrid position.

Role accountabilities:

Support the Litigation Business Partner in managing disputes and claims, including:

Claims and Dispute Resolution: 

• Handling professional negligence/professional indemnity claims arising from design, engineering, project management, and cost management services.


• Managing fee disputes, debt recovery, and project related disagreements.


• Addressing procurement issues, particularly under public sector contracts.


• Resolving insurance coverage disputes. 


• Advising on contentious health and safety and other regulatory matters, including prosecutions and enforcement actions. 

Claims Handling: 

• Undertaking initial reviews of claims and disputes. 


• Collaborating with project and bid teams, as well as support functions (Finance, Risk, People Services), to secure documentation and identify witnesses. 


• Setting strategic approaches to dispute resolution. 


• Notifying insurers and liaising with brokers. 


• Instructing and managing external solicitors, experts, and consultants. 


• Controlling external legal costs and ensuring efficient use of resources. 


• Maintaining accurate claims records and reporting to senior management, brokers, and insurers. 

Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution: 

• Managing litigation, adjudication, mediation, and arbitration processes. 


• Advising on statutory adjudication under the Construction Act. 


• Supporting the business in contentious TCC (Technology and Construction Court) cases. 

Non-Contentious 

Where capacity allows support the Legal Business Partners across the GBAs (Global Business Areas), including: 

• Contract Advice and Negotiation 


• Providing proactive guidance on legal and contractual risks to project and bid teams.


• Supporting bidding processes by reviewing and negotiating client contracts and agreements from initiation to closure. 


• Advising on procurement issues, particularly under public sector frameworks. 


• Assisting with joint ventures, acquisitions, disposals, structuring due diligence, and associated documentation. 


• Partnering with business leaders, including Partners, Business Directors, and Senior Managers, to deliver strategic business objectives while mitigating risks. 


• Providing commercial legal advice on operational initiatives and ensuring compliance with Arcadis policies and principles on contracting. 


• Assisting the UK Legal Director in implementing and monitoring governance, compliance, and risk management initiatives. 

Training and Knowledge Sharing: 

Designing and delivering training on key legal and contractual issues for project teams and senior managers. 

Preparing internal guidance notes and materials to improve risk awareness and strengthen contractual processes. 

Additional Responsibilities 

Working collaboratively with the Litigation Business Partner and the UK Legal Director to design and deliver the UK & Ireland claims and disputes strategy. 

Supporting the preparation of statistical claims analysis and identifying trends to improve risk management. 

Contributing to the continuous improvement of legal processes, standard terms and conditions, and early project support protocols. 

Providing input into the wider UK position on managing and mitigating risk and ensuring alignment with global legal standards. 

Qualifications & Experience: 

• Solicitor or barrister with a current practising certificate in England and Wales. 


• Educated to degree level or equivalent. 


• Minimum 4 years PQE with significant experience in disputes and litigation


• Proven track record in dispute resolution, including litigation, adjudication, and mediation (TCC experience desirable). 


• Experience of advising on non-contentious construction or engineering related legal matters. 


• Strong knowledge of professional negligence claims, procurement issues, and public sector contracts. 


• Experience with standard construction contract suites particularly NEC and FIDIC


• Understanding of the Construction Act

Desirable Skills: 

• Knowledge of environmental law, company law, international arbitration, and advocacy. 


• Familiarity with EU law and legal systems in other UK and non-UK jurisdictions. 


• Experience working within a global organisation or across multiple sectors. 


• Construction related regulations such as Building Safety Act and CDM Regulations

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.

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