Simon Tolson

Simon Tolson

Senior Partner

stolson [at] fenwickelliott [dot] com (Email Simon)

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Simon is a Solicitor with an Honours degree in Law, he is also a Chartered Arbitrator and Adjudicator. He has specialised in construction and engineering law and the disputes generated by the industry for most of his professional career after a time spent working on construction sites. With 25 years post qualification experience, Simon is ranked amongst the top construction solicitors in Who’s Who Legal, the Legal 500 UK and the Legal Experts guides. Simon is also classed in the top league of the Chambers UK which deems him to be a widely respected practitioner in the field, both for his legal ability and for his commitment and knowledge of the construction industry as a whole. Comments include that Simon can be relied upon to be “right on the money” and is “a big hitter”. His peers admire his "brilliant grasp of the technical and the tactical” and his real ability to “lead from the front", whilst to clients "he is a real gentleman" in domestic adjudication matters.

Simon is experienced in all main industry contracts such as JCT, NEC, IChemE, ICE, IEE, FIDIC, FCEC, and GC/Works as well as numerous bespoke forms.

Specialist expertise
Simon is a recognised authority on dispute resolution within the industry and has prepared and conducted many cases at senior level for over 20 years both in the TCC and international arbitration, including 16 major reported decisions. He has acted in well over 120 adjudications over the last 11 years, eight of which have been reported at enforcement stage. Simon is an accredited adjudicator with the TeCSA, RICS, and CIC panels.

Examples of Simon’s expertise include:

• Dispute avoidance and management advice to major corporations on construction projects
• Money and overrun cases
• Failed reservoirs, lakes and dam disputes
• Disputes over ill procured and managed major hotels
• Disputes concerning bioethanol plants
• Disputes over the termination of EPC contracts and termination cases more generally
• Disputes over EVOH plants
• Disputes over contiguous piling failure
• Pipeline contract disputes
• Gas treatment plant disputes
• Disputes over functional performance attenuation and holding tanks
• Tender dispute cases
• Disputes over bonds and collateral securities on construction disputes
• Delay, disruption and prolongation disputes
• Disputes over health farm business projects
• Failed lay-in-grid ceilings
• Collapse cases
• Injunctive business in construction cases
• Fatal accidents on construction sites
• Waste to energy plant disputes
• High voltage apparatus disputes in data centres
• PFI disputes over SPV management in the health care arena
• Disputes over construction of schools using modern methods of construction
• Disputes involving misrepresentation and negligent misstatement
• Materials disputes and cases concerning a wide variety of building and design defects

Other activities
Simon is the current Chairman of the Technology & Construction Solicitors Association and a Visiting Lecturer to King’s College London on their MSc in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, has lectured and chaired extensively for most of the major conference symposia as well as at umpteen other universities, the RICS, Arbrix, SCL, ICES, and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has also chaired and taken part in numerous webinars on construction law issues for two publishing houses. Simon wrote the contract module for King's College Construction Law, Litigation and Regulation distance learning course. He has an occasional column with Building Magazine and has contributed to numerous other legal and construction journals. He is also a past member of the editorial board for the CLT Journal E&CLJ. Between 1998 and 1999, Simon was also on the Faculty Training Board of the CIOB training adjudicators.

Simon’s memberships/positions include:

• Chairman of the Technology and Construction Solicitors Association.
• A member of the Society of Construction Arbitrators
• Founder Associate Member of the Planning Engineers Organisation,
• A member of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators 1995.
• Fellow of the Faculty of Building which in 1995 awarded him the Gordon Tomalin prize.
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Constructors and the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators
• CEDR trained mediator.

Simon’s interests outside the law are buildings, restoring them, fast cars, off-roading, motorbikes, engines and his family.

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