Jonathan Raynes

Construction and Civil Engineering

• Advising a specialist steelwork subcontractor in dispute with a major UK housebuilder over safety concerns and remedial works in connection with the balconies on a number of blocks of new build flats.
• Representing a specialist groundworks contractor in multi-party litigation following the failure of basement waterproofing to a substantial London development.
• Acting for a glass-melting furnace supplier in court proceedings in France and England arising from alleged design errors.
• Defending a formerly state-owned business in a series of ad hoc unadministered arbitrations and mediations with main contractors arising from allegedly unforeseeable conditions during opencast mining operations.
• On behalf of a Chinese chemical manufacturer, successfully resisting the enforcement in the UK of an adverse ICC award based on alleged breaches of a process technology licence.
• Advising parties to JCT contracts on the exercise of rights to terminate for insolvency, non-payment or other default, and subsequently implementing the contractual mechanism for an account to be prepared.

Energy

• Representing a Korean/Spanish joint venture in an ongoing ICC arbitration following the disputed termination of their main EPC contract to design and construct a biomass-fueled power station in the UK.
• Advising on the termination and restructuring of commercial agreements between British, Singaporean and Indian parties involved in a pan-European project to develop solar power projects.
• Representing a European manufacturer of wind turbines in New York litigation arising from the forced closure of a windfarm due to turbulence-related blade failure, and securing the summary dismissal of all claims.
• Negotiating a settlement on behalf of the owners of a UK power generating project with the manufacturer of multiple turbines affected by design flaws which caused one to suffer catastrophic failure and the subsequent downrating of the others.
• Conducting an ICC Arbitration on behalf of a Middle-Eastern specialist contractor arising from an EPC process plant project in Saudi Arabia, involving unpaid milestones, called bonds and guarantees, claims for delay and disruption and allegations of defective work.

Transport and Shipping

• Advising an Italian builder of superyachts on a number of LMAA arbitrations arising from alleged defects or disputed termination of yacht construction contracts, and in drafting and negotiating such contracts.
• Representing a UK transport operator in successfully defending multiple extension of time claims brought against it by its main contractor, and in resolving a claim by its prospective operator for costs incurred as a consequence of delay in opening the transport system.
• Securing the release of a vessel charterer from its obligations on the basis of frustration due to safety concerns at the intended destination.
• Representing a US supplier in LMAA arbitration against a Korean shipbuilder to recover costs following the exercise of a right to terminate without cause a contract for the supply of emissions control systems.

Real Estate

• Acting for a US conglomerate in relation to its portfolio of UK properties, including various renewals of business tenancies under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 and dilapidations claims following the termination of business tenancies.
• Representing a landlord faced with an insolvent retail tenant whose CVA reduced the rent payable to nil in successful proceedings against a former tenant to recover the ongoing rent at the original level.
• Representing the operator of a London datacentre whose power supply ran across adjacent land under a licence which lapsed, negotiating a temporary easement to avert a threat of an injunction requiring removal of the power cables which would close their business.
• Advising the owners of residential blocks constructed using flammable Kingspan cladding materials on their liability to replace the cladding and their options to recover their outlay from their former professional designers and their contractors.
• Acting for the owner of a potential development site in London in seeking judicial review of Transport for London’s misuse of powers vested by a Development Consent Order to block all proposed development.
• In the first reported case on the interpretation of the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992, successfully resisting an attempt to use the act to authorize what would otherwise be a trespass onto our client’s land; and subsequently securing damages for such trespass.

Commercial

• Acting for an Omani-owned UK fit-out contractor in financial difficulties, defending multiple statutory demands and winding up petitions whilst it secured alternative funding.
• Advising a luxury fashion brand on remedies for apparent infringement of its intellectual property rights by its Korean licensee’s failure to adhere to the terms of its manufacturing and distribution licence.
• Advising a British computer software provider in defending and counterclaiming against claims brought in the Court of Rome by an Italian subsidiary of a French bank following the wrongful termination of a software supply contract.
• On behalf of a manufacturing company, obtaining an urgent injunction obliging a former employee to stop using confidential information and to hand over all his IT equipment, then negotiated a permanent outcome including deletion of offending data, restraints on competition and recovery costs.
• Representing a European technology company in an LCIA arbitration concerning obligations under a 'take or pay' distributorship agreement for medical products.

Non-Contentious

• On behalf of prospective main contractors and specialist subcontractors, reviewing, negotiating and advising on the risks and necessary procedures on various projects using JCT, NEC, FIDIC, IMechE/IET, Bimco, Orgalime and other standard form contracts.
• Advising the funder of a proposed £200m retail park in northern England on the terms of the proposed suite of building contracts, professional appointments, collateral warranties and other security documentation.
• Helping multiple private developers in preparing and negotiating the full suite of construction documents for residential, commercial, industrial, hotel and leisure developments across the UK.
• Acting for a developer in preparing and negotiating the construction documentation for around 50 major supermarkets across the UK.

• Best Lawyers UK, Construction Law (2021-2022)
• Chambers UK, Construction: Purchaser, London (2011-2020)
• Legal 500 UK, "Leading Lawyer," Commercial Litigation (2021-2025)