Rupert Choat is a partner and solicitor advocate in the construction team and deputy head of the Real Estate and Construction sector group.
Rupert has specialised in dispute avoidance and resolution in construction and engineering projects (including commercial, residential, industrial, process plant, energy, infrastructure, transport, health, hotels, lifesciences, education and military) since 1997 - both in the UK and internationally (Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Poland, Kosovo, Czech Republic, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Tanzania). His experience spans mediation, expert determination, DAB/DRB, adjudication, arbitration (under, among others, ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and CIMA rules) and court proceedings.
Rupert started his career as a barrister at Atkin Chambers, and he often appears as advocate. For a non-confidential example please click here. Rupert comments on construction issues in a variety of media, particularly seminars, training sessions and articles (from the UK to Australia; he regularly writes for the UK’s Building magazine and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Journal).
Chambers & Partners 2009 and 2010 both recommend Rupert for construction, describing him as 'a gifted intellectual and good manager of a team' and saying that: "Clients highlight that Rupert Choat 'can certainly hold his own almost anywhere - he's cool, calm and collected with a deep knowledge of the relevant matters.'" Chambers 2010 also recommends Rupert for International Arbitration, noting that he is ‘extremely knowledgeable, with excellent business sense’.
Rupert is also recommended in both the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Legal 500. He is described there as ‘very bright and patient’ and ‘extremely effective in the preparation and presentation of cases’.
Rupert is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation, the International Bar Association, the International Chamber of Commerce, the LCIA Young International Arbitration Group, the UK Technology and Construction Solicitors Association, the Society of Construction Law and the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates.
Relevant experience includes advising:
- A UK road contractor on a multi-million pound final account claim, including acting as junior counsel in the High Court to enforce an adjudicator’s decision and advising on two later arbitrations
- An international engineering company on (1) setting up a claims management department, (2) an "on call" service as to its EPC contract for a power plant in the Middle East and (3) the termination of a subcontract and $70m dispute, including Turkish court proceedings re an on-demand bond claim
- An international engineering company on claims by and against the owner and a subcontractor (including re notice provisions and extensions of time) arising from a US$1 billion IWPP in Saudi Arabia
- An international contractor on (1) a $60m LCIA arbitration against its employer concerning a late and allegedly defective cement plant in Vietnam as well as a bond call and (2) the termination of its contract to construct a process plant in Bangladesh
- An international developer/investor on a £10m dispute with its contractor concerning a late and defective residential development, including arbitration and English court proceedings
- A UK public authority on two successful adjudications against its contractor re a new build office, including variations, extensions of time and liquidated damages claims
Education:
Warwick University, LLB (Hons). Cambridge University, LLM (Hons). Inns of Court School of Law, London (Bar Vocational Course).