Andrew White

About My Work

Andrew enjoys an international reputation as a commercial silk. He regularly appears as counsel in English High Court litigation, and international and domestic arbitrations, as well as mediations and expert determinations. He appeared in the House of Lords for the landmark decisions of Murphy v Brentwood District Council and The Channel Tunnel Group Ltd and Ors v Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd and Ors.

Clients talk of his abilities as an authoritative, heavyweight, measured and incisive advocate with an ability to master the most complex of cases while also being a commercial team player who works “ferociously hard” on behalf of his clients. He is regularly instructed by the world’s largest law firms on behalf of major construction, engineering and energy companies, governments and state entities.

Andrew’s practice includes large civil engineering and building disputes such as hospitals and airports, shipbuilding and ship conversion, rail and rolling stock, and significant work in energy – both oil and gas, and renewable projects. He is also called on for related disputes, such as contracts for the sale and purchase of oil and gas, and more general commercial work.

Most of his work is international in nature and in recent years he has acted in disputes in Europe, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, the UAE and across Asia. He has been instructed as counsel in the Court of Appeal in Gibraltar, in the High Court of Hong Kong and in arbitrations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brussels, Gibraltar, and Tanzania.

Andrew has also been appointed as an arbitrator – both as chair and party-appointed – in UNCITRAL, ICC, SIAC, LCIA, LMAA, DIAC and ad hoc arbitrations in England, Singapore, Nigeria, Switzerland, Paris, Trinidad, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand and New York. Andrew has been appointed as a member of both the SIAC panel of arbitrators and the approved panel of arbitrators at the Astana International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) in Kazakhstan.

His wider commercial experience is significant. In recent years this has included a Middle East dispute over a royalty agreement and a dispute between shareholders under a share purchase agreement in Hong Kong. He also has considerable experience in the professional indemnity, IT and telecommunications, and procurement fields.

He has been recognised for many years as a leading silk by the legal directories – Chambers and Partners Guide (Global, Asia and UK Bar) and The Legal 500 (UK Bar, Asia-Pacific and Middle East) – in the fields of international arbitration, energy and natural resources, construction and professional negligence.

In 2011 Andrew was awarded Construction Silk of the Year and in 2015 he was awarded International Arbitration Silk of the Year – both at the Chambers UK Bar Awards.

Notable Experience

• Acting for the consortium of contractors who were building the new Dubai Metro which comprised of 40 stations and some 70km of viaduct and tunnels
• Acting for a contractor involved in the construction of the Pearl Project in Qatar – at the time, the world’s largest gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant and one of the world’s largest, most complex and challenging energy projects ever commissioned. Qatar law and arbitration.
• Acting for the Government of Canada in a dispute concerning the construction of the Canadian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
• Acting in arbitration and in the High Court for a major joint venture contractor in three major disputes concerning the construction of gas liquefaction facilities on Das Island, Abu Dhabi.
• Acting in arbitration under DIAC rules for the contractor in an arbitration concerning cost overruns on a residential development in Dubai Marina. Dubai law.
• Acting for international contractor in arbitration under DIAC rules for the contractor in a dispute concerning the construction of the Dubai International Financial Centre.
• Acting in LCIA arbitration for the contractor in a dispute concerning a water treatment plant in Oman.
• Acting in LCIA arbitration for the contractors on a dispute regarding liquidated damages levied at US$30 million but part of wider disputes relating to the completion of the desalination facility forming part of a combined power and desalination project in Oman.
• Acting in an ad hoc arbitration in a dispute concerning a major airport in the Middle East
• Acting in an ICC arbitration in a dispute concerning the new rail network in Doha.
• Acting in Hong Kong arbitration for an international contractor pursuing a claim against the government in respect of a viaduct and road construction project in Hong Kong. The claim was for HK$1 billion.

Recognition/Awards

• Chambers UK Bar Awards 2011: Construction Silk of the Year
• Chambers UK Bar Awards 2015: International Arbitration Silk of the Year