David joined Birketts in 2026. He is a contentious construction solicitor and a Partner in our construction & engineering team.
Before joining Birketts, he was a partner at other firms in and around Norwich, dealing with a mix of contentious and non-contentious construction and other areas of litigation. His role included managing teams of litigators of various practice areas.
David has dealt with construction disputes involving JCT, NEC, RIBA, other standard form contracts, bespoke and informal contracts. He has dealt with them via adjudication, litigation (High Court and County Court), mediation and other forms of dispute resolution. The values of such disputes has ranged from tens of thousands through to tens of millions of pounds.
David is a past president of the Norfolk & Norwich Law Society and is currently the representative for Norfolk on the Law Society Council.
Recent work highlights
Dealing with a £4m engineering dispute through the Technology and Construction Court for a commercial client against a contractor that settled at mediation shortly before trial.
Pursuing a complex £8m claim by a contractor involving cross-jurisdiction companies and issues, involving several adjudications, court proceedings (including adjudication enforcement) and insolvency proceedings, which settled post-judgment.
Dealing with a time-pressured series of adjudications (each worth several hundred thousand pounds, some based on payment notices – i.e. “smash & grab” – and others involving other issues) for a developer dealing with payment issues on a housing project.
Experience & education
2026 Partner, Birketts
2025 – 2026 Partner, Nicholsons Solicitors
2020 – 2025 Partner, Head of Litigation, Butcher Andrews
2019 Construction Law & Practice LLM, University of Salford
2016 – 2020 Partner, Leathes Prior
2009 – 2016 Solicitor, Leathes Prior
2007 – 2009 Trainee solicitor, Leathes Prior
2006 Law LLB, King’s College London
Areas of Expertise
Accreditations
Society of Construction Law
Member
Law Society Council
Norfolk representitive
