Construction and Engineering Disputes

We act for employers, contractors, sub-contractors, manufacturers, lenders and investors in international arbitration (both commercial and investor-treaty) and in litigation before the German courts, advising on disputes arising out of complex EPC and other standard-form international projects across Europe and worldwide.

We have particular experience in the renewable energy sector (in particular onshore and offshore wind farms and solar farms) and in major infrastructure projects, including tunnels, bridges and data centres, as well as industrial plants and buildings. The practice is led from Frankfurt by Ulrich Helm, who combines a transactional background in drafting EPC, PDA and project-financing contracts with the experience of conducting more than 150 litigations and 50 arbitrations, and who founded and led Hogan Lovells’ German Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group for 20 years. Ulrich also regularly acts as an adjudicator in construction disputes.

Drawing on an in-depth understanding of the technical, contractual and financial issues that arise on complex international construction projects, we provide bespoke support at every stage of a dispute, from strategic pre-dispute advice and commercially focused settlement negotiations through to full arbitration and court proceedings. Our Frankfurt team also has distinctive expertise in dispute prevention and pre-claim conflict management, particularly concerning renewables and infrastructure projects.

We take disputes off our clients’ hands so that they can focus on their business. We believe that the highest form of conflict resolution is to resolve matters through sophisticated negotiation, and we pursue formal proceedings where this aligns with the client’s commercial objectives or where alternative routes have been exhausted. When litigation or arbitration becomes necessary, we prepare thoroughly and advocate for our clients with conviction.