James Bennett

Consultant Solicitor & Chartered Surveyor

Construction & Development

About James


James is a dual-qualified Solicitor and Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) with over 30 years of front-line experience in construction, infrastructure and major projects. Before joining Woodstock Legal Services as a Consultant, he held senior commercial, investment and executive roles at Kiewit, John Laing, Carillion and Mowlem, leading teams to financial close on multi-billion-dollar PPP and infrastructure schemes across the UK, Canada, the United States and the Middle East. He now advises clients on the full lifecycle of complex construction and infrastructure contracts and disputes.


James works with developers, main contractors, sub-contractors, funders, equity investors, project sponsors and public sector bodies engaged on high-value construction, engineering, PPP and PFI projects. His clients typically face the challenges inherent in long-term, capital-intensive schemes: complex multi-party contractual frameworks (JCT, NEC, FIDIC and bespoke project documents), tight programmes, heavy risk allocation and the disputes that inevitably arise when something goes wrong. James also acts on cross-border and international projects where additional jurisdictional and commercial complexity is involved.


Clients benefit from James’s rare combination of legal, commercial and technical expertise. Having sat on every side of the table – as bidder, investor, operator, executive and legal advisor – he brings practical commercial judgement to every matter, identifies risk early and resolves problems before they escalate. He is known for bringing clarity to complicated contractual and financial issues, taking a calm and pragmatic approach under pressure, and delivering straightforward, commercial advice that clients can act on.


Outside of work, James is a keen golfer, and he loves walking and hiking the amazing countryside of the UK.

Legal Specialisms


  • Construction & Infrastructure Disputes - Adjudication, arbitration, expert determination, mediation and litigation on construction and engineering disputes, including delay, disruption, variation, valuation and quantum issues across JCT, NEC, FIDIC and bespoke contracts.


  • PPP, PFI & P3 Projects - End-to-end advice on public-private partnership and concession projects, including bid support, financial close, acquisition due diligence, contract management and operational phase variations on healthcare, rail, highways and civil infrastructure schemes.


  • Commercial & Contract Advice - Drafting, negotiating and managing major project documentation, including EPC and design & build contracts, consortium agreements, concession agreements, shareholder agreements and long-term facilities management and service contracts.


  • Equity Investment, M&A & SPV Governance - Due diligence, transaction structuring and execution on infrastructure acquisitions, secondary market transactions and SPV governance across the equity lifecycle of major projects, including chairing SPVs and advising on portfolio management.


  • Strategic Dispute Management - Acting as strategic advisor on high-value, multi-party construction and infrastructure disputes, with a focus on early risk identification, negotiation, mediation and settlement before matters escalate into formal proceedings.


  • International & Cross-Border Projects - Advising on projects and disputes across the UK, Canada, the United States and the Middle East, with particular experience of cross-border infrastructure, multi-jurisdictional project documentation and international funders and contractors.



Legal Expertise in Practice


  • Contract review, negotiation & drafting – JCT forms - Provided full review and a legal and commercial negotiation position of a heavily amended JCT Design and Build Contract 2016 for a £1m temporary structure inside the courtyard of an operating luxury hotel in London. Assisted the client in securing acceptable terms under which the agreement could be executed, advised on the management and mitigation of the major risks and assisted in the proper instruction of the insurance adviser to ensure the correct cover was provided. Subsequently, drafted and negotiated a drop-down agreement for the major subcontractor in the supply chain. Provided ongoing contractual advice and support during the completion of the works and drafted the regulatory compliance statement for fire safety on behalf of the contractor.


  • Wrongful determination, Final Valuation Adjudication & Negligence Claim – Bespoke Contract - Drafted, finalised and submitted all legal submissions in respect of a final valuation upstream adjudication for a £400k project and provided a successful legal position in support of a wrongful determination contractual dispute following an alleged breach of the CDM Regulations by the contractor. Also drafted the full particulars of claim for a successful downstream litigation for a damages claim following a breach of a duty of care to deliver services under a contract to a reasonable skill and care standard. The contract was a bespoke contract provided by the developer, and I successfully argued against it.


  • Contract Analysis & Adjudication – NEC3 - Drafted, finalised and submitted all legal submissions in respect of the successful defence to an Adjudication for the full amount of a construction contract following an allegation that all the work was defective based on an erroneous assumption and incorrect interpretation of the contract. The counterparty was a large, commercially and legally sophisticated local authority. Assisted the contractor in adducing and correctly presenting the evidence required to refute the allegations made and defeat the claim. The contract was an amended NEC3 Main Contract Option A with optional X clauses and some supplemental Z clauses.


  • Proper Valuation of a Compensation Event – NEC3 - Subcontract Drafted, finalised and submitted legal submissions in the defence of an adjudication launched by a subcontractor over the proper valuation of a scope item whose quantity changed significantly following the issue of a Project Manager's instruction and the associated Compensation Event. Although the subcontractor did receive a partial award in the adjudication decision, it only represented a fraction of the relief sought, thanks to the accuracy of the legal arguments submitted and the correct interpretation of the provisions of the contract.


  • International Projects & Disputes - Advised on and conducted adjudications, arbitrations, mediations and litigated matters on complex construction and infrastructure claims across multiple jurisdictions, bringing commercial and contractual clarity to multi-party, multi-jurisdictional disputes.


  • Canadian Healthcare/US Rail Portfolio - For John Laing, led the commercial and technical due diligence and part contract negotiation for the acquisition and financial close of a $1.125bn Canadian healthcare DBFOM portfolio (Abbotsford, Diamond Centre and Kelowna Vernon Hospital projects) and separately the $2.1bn Denver FasTracks rail concession.

Related Services

Construction & Development >


Call James: 01202 164606

Email James: j.bennett@woodstocklegalservices.co.uk



“After providing us with a detailed contract review highlighting several contractual issues, we were unable to accept, James assisted us in negotiating and agreeing an acceptable contract which allowed us to secure a £750k contract which was critical to the business. James also drafted an acceptable drop down from the agreed contract with which we were able to engage our supply chain. James continued to provide support throughout the contract on commercial and contractual issues”

“With James advice, guidance and legal submission drafting skills we were abler to secure 80% of our final valuation adjudication from a national housing and property developer who had wrongly determined our contract. In addition, James secured 100% of our claim in a follow-on litigation from the subcontractor whose negligence created the initial safety incident under which the Employer incorrectly terminated us.”

“In addition to his legal skills noted above, James leveraged his background as a Chartered Surveyor to write a commentary in the Adjudication Referral regarding the formulation of the quantum, thereby allowing the submission to be completed using internal resources and James’ narrative and guidance and input on what was required to properly evidence the quantum to adjudication standards. This avoided approximately £20k in the expense of engaging a quantum expert to prepare a separate report.”

“Utilising James legal skills, guidance and construction knowledge, we successfully defended an adjudication from a major UK local authority client that effectively alleged that our entire work package was defective and assessed the damages as the full amount of the contract in question which was circa £1m. The successful Adjuidcators decision represented 100% of what we had described as the relief sought.”