Fenwick Elliott, the UK’s largest construction law firm, has appointed Philip Hancock as Senior Associate, and Layla Blair, Jonathan Clarke and Nicole Leahy as Associates.
Philip Hancock [1] joins our London office from DLA Piper. He has acted for different parties in the supply chain, including employers, main contractors, subcontractors, consultants, suppliers, and insolvency practitioners. Philip has experience in arbitration (ICC and LCIA), TCC litigation, adjudication, mediation, expert determination, and project advisory and pre-action stages.
Layla Blair [2] is an Australian qualified lawyer and joins London office as a contentious construction specialist. She has acted for a wide range of domestic and international clients across a range of industry sectors, including transport, renewable energy and public infrastructure. Her practice is focused on international and domestic arbitration and litigation.
Jonathan Clarke [3] has joined our London office from Watson Farley & Williams. He specialises in dispute avoidance and resolution within the construction, energy, and infrastructure sectors. His experience spans a wide range of matters, from high-value, multi-billion-pound international arbitrations to low-value, high-volume smash-and-grab adjudications.
Nicole Leahy [4] joins our Dubai office. Nicole qualified in 2020 and has worked in both London and the Middle East. Her most recent role was with HFW’s commercial litigation team in Dubai. She has assisted on several cases before the DIFC, ADGM, English and onshore courts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and arbitrations before the ICC, DIAC and LCIA.
Commenting on the new hires, Fenwick Elliott’s Senior Partner Simon Tolson said:
“We are excited to welcome Philip, Layla, Jonathan, and Nicole to our London and Dubai offices. Strengthening our team with experienced specialists allows us to continue delivering exceptional service across our growing portfolio of projects. We're proud to invest in talent that supports our continued growth and success. Welcome to the team!”