Clare joined Philip Lee in 2015 from one of the top 5 law firms in Dublin. Clare practices construction law, advising employers, contractors, designers, public authorities and private entities. She specialises in dispute resolution.

Clare has over 20 years’ experience in high value complex disputes. Her litigation experience ranges from High Court to Commercial Court, from Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. She has repeatedly managed judicial review challenges to high value procurement decisions issued by state authorities.

She has vast experience in alternative dispute resolution. On a daily basis she guides clients through complex disputes in mediation, conciliation and arbitration and has a burgeoning practice in construction adjudications as this forum grows in momentum in Ireland.

In addition to her contentious practice, Clare is highly experienced in commercial drafting and negotiation. She has acted for state authorities on large scale national infrastructure projects, from roads to schools to hospitals and is adept at managing negotiations, assessing risks and bringing complex projects to successful close with detailed specialist advice.

Clare also has particular expertise in regulatory construction law; she is a noted health and safety law practitioner and lectures in Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin on the statutory regimes. She sits on the committee of the Health & Safety Lawyers Association of Ireland.

Industry guides refer to her “phenomenal attention to detail”, “personable approach” and say that her “ability to distil complex disputes into a clear legal strategy is first class”. She is a regular contributor to articles and periodicals in the construction arena.

Recent Work

• • • ADR – Representation and advocacy in conciliation and adjudication of various construction disputes.
    • Judicial Review – Acted for Universities, the HSE, state authorities and numerous private contractors in judicial review challenges to the procurement procedures in awarding construction projects.
    • Procurement Challenges – Acted for Word Perfect in a trilogy of procurement challenges which led to six nationally noteworthy judgments; the cases made new law in the area of procurement. Many other nationally noteworthy cases where we succeeded in “lifting the suspension” of the contract which is imposed under the procurement regulations.
    • Contract Disputes – Acted for the Port of Cork in a high profile commercial court litigation over the construction contract for an €80 million project.
    • Construction Delay Claims – Acted for various clients in construction delay claims (such as Kilkenny County Council and Trinity College Dublin) providing specialist advice on specific clauses in the Public Works Contracts pertaining to delay in construction projects.
    • Construction Contracts – Acting for developers and contractors on high profile developments such as Fajon Construction on the Sharp Building (an iconic city centre office complex) and JJ Rhatigan on various high-profile developments such as the Dean Hotel in Galway.
    • Health and Safety – Managing prosecutions and investigations by the Health and Safety Authority arising from alleged breaches of health and safety law including cases involving fatalities.
    • Regulatory Advice – Clare advises many public and private entities around statutory obligations and assists them to manage risk in the health and safety arena. Clients in this area include Dublin City Council, Department of Transport and Sport Ireland.
    • Mediation – Managing the mediation of disputes for multiple clients.
    • PPP work – Clare has worked on significant PPP projects, to include the contract for the building of the M17, a €550 million road scheme and the Poolbeg Power Station.