Claire Packman
Call 1996
Instruct Claire
To instruct Claire please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7842 5555 or email clerks@4pumpcourt.com.
Claire Packman has a commercial practice.
She specialises in the following areas:
- Construction & Engineering
- Professional Negligence
- Energy
- Insurance
- Commercial Disputes
- Technology & Telecoms
Claire is recommended as a leading junior in the field of construction in Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and Chambers Global where comments in current and previous editions include:
- Brilliant to work with: when the pressure comes on you want her on your side
- An extremely talented advocate who is very charming and very effective in her arguments
- A very impressive cross-examiner
- Highly intelligent, tactically astute, hardworking, efficient and friendly
- A go-to barrister for me because she’s incredibly client-facing, bright and excellent on her feet
- She’s incredibly bright and her written work is exceptional
- A bright, down-to-earth, hard-working and enthusiastic construction junior with a very user-friendly approach
- She is very bright and does not back down
Construction & Engineering
Claire is recommended in Legal 500, Chambers & Partners UK and Chambers Global for construction disputes. She is regularly instructed in high-value TCC litigation and arbitration (international and local), and in adjudications, adjudication enforcement proceedings and disputes relating to payment. Recent cases relate to the construction of airports, motorways, hotels, student accommodation, government offices, naval dockyard premises, a solar power plant, wind farms, housing developments and high-end residential projects. She is experienced in the standard contract forms, including the JCT contracts, NEC, FIDIC, ICE, IChemE and professional appointments under ACE, RIBA and RICS standard appointments. She acts for employers, contractors, sub-contractors and members of the professional team in cases involving a broad range of legal and technical issues.
Claire was elected as a member of the Society of Construction Law Council in 2018. She is regularly involved in adjudications, adjudication enforcement proceedings and disputes relating to payment. She is a contributing author of LexisNexis online Adjudication KnowHow and has extensive experience in all aspects of adjudication from drafting the Referral Notice to challenging enforcement. She is a former editor of the Adjudication Society newsletter.
Featured Construction & Engineering cases
Mears v Costplan [2018] EWHC 3363 (TCC): Acting for contractors in a case where the prospective tenant sought an injunction and declarations from the Court to prevent practical completion being certified.
Acting for developers in a TCC dispute with asbestos removal contractors in relation to the redevelopment of a power station.
Acting for architects/ design team in a middle eastern arbitration relating to the construction of an airport.
Acting for an MEP sub-contractor in an ICC arbitration relating to the construction of a government offices complex in a middle eastern capital.
Acting for a contractor in an ICC arbitration concerning a high value dispute over the construction of a motorway in the Indian Sub-continent under a FIDIC contract. Issues include the role of the Dispute Board and delay.
Acting for a government body in the Caribbean in a high value dispute with a contractor over a major road building project in a LCIA arbitration. Issues included delay and termination.
Acting for the operators of a naval dockyard in a claim against sub-contractors.
Acting for architects in a middle eastern arbitration relating to the construction of an airport.
Acting for a large engineering company successfully seeing off a claim for £25 million against them in relation to the design of 5 car parks.
Acting for a large engineering company in a claim for non-payment of fees under IChemE.
Acting for a large engineering company in a dispute with a main contractor over payment and the design of electrical services in a dual carriageway tunnel.
Sainsbury’s v Condek & Others [2014] EWHC 2016: Acting for Capita Symonds in successfully striking out a £6 million claim against them by Sainsbury’s relating to a car park.
Acting for a University in a claim against its architects in respect of a new campus building.
Acting for a well-known architect in an adjudication over a high-value domestic project.
Acting for a housing association against a developer where properties were subject to flooding.
Advising the Secretary of State in relation to a landslip on the edge of the M60 and threatened proceedings by the owner of adjoining land.
Acting for engineers in claim relating to adequacy of underpinning to remedy cracking caused by tree roots.
Acting for insurers alleging fraud in two claims for fire damage, one at residential property and the other at business premises.
Acting in a number of cases for the suppliers of products said to have caused a fire to start in residential premises.
Acting for insurers in a dispute over the required remedial works in a case of tree-root caused subsidence.
Professional Negligence
A large part of Claire’s practice relates to professional negligence claims, both in the construction field and otherwise.
Featured Professional Negligence cases
Advising offshore wind farm company in relation to a potential claim against engineers in relation to the design of offshore cables.
Acting for a large engineering company successfully seeing off a claim for £25 million against them in relation to the design of 5 car parks.
Acting for a large engineering company in a claim for non-payment of fees under IChemE.
Acting for a large engineering company in a dispute with a main contractor over payment and the design of electrical services in a dual carriageway tunnel.
Sainsbury’s v Condek and others [2014] EWHC 2016: Acting for Capita Symonds in successfully striking out a £6 million claim against them by Sainsbury’s relating to a car park.
Acting for a university in a claim against an engineer in respect of its Project Management and Lead Consultant roles.
Acting for architects in a middle eastern arbitration relating to the construction of an airport.
Acting for a university in a claim against its architects in respect of the design and project management of a project to build a new campus building.
Acting for a well-known architect in an adjudication over a high-value domestic project.
Acting for an architect defending a claim in relation to the drainage design for a new housing development.
Acting for a valuer in a claim relating to the alleged overvaluation of a portfolio of mining vehicles.
Acting for a valuer defending a claim for the alleged overvaluation of properties in large portfolios.
Acting for a bank bringing a claim against valuers of “leasehold flats” which turned out to be hotel rooms.
Acting for a surveyor alleged to have overvalued a large number of properties in a portfolio over a number of years. Claim £3.3 million.
Acting for a registered conveyancer defending allegations of professional negligence in respect of a mortgage.
Acting for a university in a claim against its solicitors in relation to EU procurement advice.
Advising the purchaser of a stud farm in relation to a claim against his conveyancing solicitors.
Acting for a bank in a claim against solicitors instructed in the conveyance of various hotels, including allegations of breach of fiduciary duty.
Advising the London reinsurers of the Malaysian Bar Scheme which insures Malaysian lawyers; this involved undertaking a review of approximately 200 cases currently active in Malaysia against members of the legal profession in Malaysia.
Acting for a firm of solicitors in a claim for fees countered by allegations of professional negligence.
Energy
Featured Energy cases
Acting for the purchasers of a Latin American solar power plant in an ICC arbitration relating to payment terms.
Advising a contractor in relation to a dispute in relation to the construction of an offshore oil project in the Caspian Sea.
Advising an offshore wind farm company in relation to faulty offshore cables.
Acting for a company who supplied and installed equipment for an anaerobic digestion plant in a Commercial Court dispute relating to the performance of the plant.
Acting in an ICC arbitration for a major European construction company in a multi-million pound dispute with an energy company relating to the construction of an off shore wind farm.
Acting for engineers in a dispute relating to the design and construction of a new energy centre for Whipps Cross hospital, London.
Advising a major Japanese contractor and joint venture company in an international arbitration relating to the construction of a hydroelectric plant in Kenya under FIDIC 4th edition contract.
Advising Kuwait Petroleum on pipeline agreement for transport of fuel to Sydney airport.
Acting for Birse Construction in relation to the construction of a “waste to energy” recycling plant in Wales: Birse Construction Ltd v HLC Engenharia Gestao de Projectos SA All ER (D) 89.
Insurance & Reinsurance
Claire acts frequently in insurance disputes, primarily for the insurer. She has considerable experience of disputes concerning policy wording, material non-disclosure, misrepresentation and fraud.
Featured Insurance & Reinsurance cases
Advising insurers as to coverage issues in relation to a claim by a developer against a subcontractor.
Advising the London reinsurers of the Malaysian Bar Scheme.
Advising a leading insurance company on the application of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations on its standard wording.
Acting for insured whose business was damaged by fire; litigation against insurance broker and insurer complicated by the insolvency of the broker and the need to join those who had placed the business as agents for the broker.
Commercial Disputes
Claire acts regularly in commercial disputes.
Featured Commercial Disputes cases
Acting for a major bank in relation to a mortgage fraud where mortgages were obtained over hotel rooms.
Acting for the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in relation to a contractual dispute over the termination of a contract.
Acting for the owner of a landfill site in an action for damages relating to a contract for the disposal of Carmarthenshire County Council waste.
Advising a hotel in a Mediterranean resort in relation to a contractual dispute between it and a major package holiday provider with exclusive use of the hotel.
Technology & Telecoms
Claire has acted in a number of cases relating to the licencing of software and the design of bespoke computer systems.
Featured Technology & Telecoms cases
Acting for the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in relation to a contract for technology consultancy.
Advising a major high street retailer on the terms of a licence for software.
Acting for Control Risks Group in litigation with sub-contractors arising from a contract to provide a computerized evidential presentation package in relation to the deaths of the Morecombe Bay cockle pickers. The trial required detailed cross–examination on the programming / coding requirements of HTML and Flash.
Acting for London Borough of Harrow in relation to a contractual dispute regarding the purchase of a new computer system and associated software.
Rankings in The Legal 500 EMEA Guide 2020
4 Pump Court are delighted that Members of Chambers have been recognised for their construction work in the Middle East...
Rankings in Legal 500 EMEA Guide 2019
4 Pump Court are delighted that Members of Chambers have been recognised for their construction work in the Middle East...
Claire Packman is elected to the Society of Construction Law Council
4 Pump Court are delighted to announce that Claire Packman has been elected to the Society of Construction Law's...
Construction Newsletter – Contracting Away Concurrent Delay
Please find below the 30th edition of 4 Pump Court's Construction Newsletter. Foreword by George Woods: This edition...
Instruct Claire
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