Admitted as a Solicitor in England & Wales in 1992 and in Northern Ireland in 2007

Education:  Graduated in 1989 with an Honours degree in Law from Liverpool University.  Stuart obtained his professional legal qualifications at the College of Law in Chester in 1990 and then completed his training contract with Mills & Reeve, a large commercial practice in Cambridge.

After qualifying as a solicitor, Stuart accepted an offer to work in the Construction and Engineering Group of Masons (now Pinsent Masons), one of the leading UK firms in this field.  During 14 years at the firm, Stuart acted on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters for clients from all stages of the construction and engineering process, including developers, contractors, sub-contractors and consultants and his caseload involved projects both in the UK and internationally, often relating to major infrastructure developments or power generation facilities.

Stuart joined Carson McDowell as an Associate in 2007 and became a Partner in February 2010. Stuart works on a dedicated basis on construction and engineering matters.  Stuart has experience of drafting and negotiating construction contracts, warranties and other documents necessary for the building process and of vetting and carrying out tender analyses.  He has advised clients during the progress of construction works, to resolve issues as they arise and try to avoid disputes escalating.  Where disputes are unavoidable, Stuart has a wide range of experience in the variety of different dispute resolution processes, including litigation, arbitration, adjudication and the increasingly frequently used alternative dispute resolution techniques such as mediation, expert determination etc.  Stuart also lectures regularly on legal topics of interest to the construction and engineering industry.