Irwin Mitchell boosts Construction Team with new partner appointment in London

Jonathan More, Irwin Mitchell

National law firm Irwin Mitchell is expanding its Construction Team with the recruitment of a new partner, Jonathan More, who is based in the firm’s London office.

The appointment takes the specialist construction team to eighteen with four partners. The team is led by Mark Clinton and sits within Irwin Mitchell’s Property Division which now numbers 28 partners and 147 qualified lawyers.

Jonathan joins Irwin Mitchell from chambers practice, Spencer West LLP, where he was the lead construction disputes partner.

Prior to joining Spencer West, Jonathan was partner at Fenwick Elliott, where he worked on a variety of significant high quality, high value construction dispute related work including:

  • advising on a significant c. 1 billion USD International Arbitration (ICC) comprising a series of disputes in relation to major infrastructure project in the Middle East;
  • advising in a relation to a c. £50m R&D renewable power plant project dispute;
  • advising in a multi-million EURO DAB dispute relating to a series of claims in respect of an Eastern European power plant; and,
  • advising in relation to a major refurbishment dispute relating to a private domestic residence valued at over £20m in one of London’s highest resi-value property streets.

Jonathan has acted in a significant number of domestic adjudications, and subsequent enforcement actions at the TCC for a number of the top contractors in the UK and Europe and advised on disputes in the UK and Ireland, mainland Europe, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, and Hong Kong.

In his career he has also advised on several of the UK’s key and high-profile projects including the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh Trams, London Overground’s East London Line extension and Crossrail.

Jonathan also benefits from the experience of eight years of working in-house. His work from 2009 to 2015 with TfL and Crossrail led to him becoming an expert on NEC contracts, with experience also of FIDIC, JCT and all other major standard contract forms.

Mark Clinton, Head of Construction at Irwin Mitchell said, “Jonathan’s arrival will be a real boost to our national construction practice, particularly in London and will complement the arrival of construction partners Edward Davies and Richard Allan in Manchester just over twelve months ago.”

“Our team has been inundated recently, supporting clients dealing with “the cladding crisis” which shows no sign of abating in the short term. Jonathan’s appointment comes just at the right time and we will benefit from his great experience and strong reputation. His entrepreneurial skills will help us as we drive forward the growth of our contentious practice.”

“We are now looking in the market for a new senior associate and a new associate in the construction team to support our growth ambitions. We hope to be able to announce on these soon.”

Jonathan More said, “I am very excited to be joining Irwin Mitchell. The continued growth the firm has achieved in recent years is evidence of its success and entrepreneurial approach in the provision of legal services. The opportunity I have been given to join and help grow the firm’s construction team from London is unique and one which I am certain will see us continue to thrive in a sector that is so important to day-to-day life.”