Richard Booth
About Richard
Richard specialises in construction and engineering matters, both in the UK and internationally. He qualified in 2003 and has been part of the well regarded HFW construction team since 2005. The specialist team are highly ranked by Legal 500 who comment that “HFW does big ticket work for some of the key industry contractors” (Legal 500 2021), are commended for their “vast range of experience in offshore wind” (Legal 500 2023) and by Chambers & Partners who say “their lawyers combine legal skills, proactiveness and the ability to take a practical approach, which is very valuable.” (Chambers & Partners 2022).
He advises on strategy during procurement and during or after project delivery.
Richard specialises in all forms of construction dispute resolution, including ADR (particularly mediation), statutory and contractual adjudication, dispute boards, arbitration and litigation. He has been a party representative and advocate at regular meetings of a dispute adjudication board over a three year period. Richard is often asked to act in a project advisory role and, in this capacity, he spent over two years on secondment to a major European contractor.
He has considerable experience of advising on all forms of construction documentation, particularly high value complex EPC, EPCI and other forms of turnkey contracts. Richard regularly drafts, amends and negotiates FIDIC, NEC, JCT, LOGIC, bespoke and associated security documentation.
Richard’s testimonials included in the independent directories that review the legal market include:
“He is a very persuasive negotiator” (Chambers & Partners 2017)
“Excellent at tackling the issues while bearing in mind practical and commercially sensible solutions” (Chambers & Partners 2017)
“His strengths are his ability to find solutions in negotiations and to get a deal done. He has a creative approach and takes into account the interests of all the parties.”(Chambers & Partners 2018)
“Sharp, punctual and pleasant to work with” (Chambers & Partners 2019)
“Innovative”(Legal 500 2020)
“Richard Booth is very approachable; he has a good legal brain and is an innovative thinker with a commercial acumen.”(Legal 500 2020)
“Very good level of engagement led by Richard Booth.” (Legal 500 2021)
“I was very impressed by Richard Booth’s ability to quickly pick up the key aspects of a very technically challenging dispute, to draw out the key issues and to direct the compilation of the necessary technical evidence to support our case.” (Legal 500 2022)
“Michael Sergeant and Richard Booth have both supported us over recent years. We would highly recommend both as they offer sound practical advice, having invested time and energy in understanding our business” (Legal 500 2022)
“Richard Booth is particularly active in offshore wind matters” (Legal 500 2023)
“Richard Booth is approachable, available, technically excellent and extremely thorough, but also commercially aware which allows a competitive edge to be maintained” (Legal 500 2023)
“Richard Booth is very knowledgeable, easy to approach and to the point. He is solution orientated and has a good eye for the commercial aspects of legal issues” (Legal 500 2023)
Richard is a past Chairman of the Adjudication Society and a member of the Society of Construction Law in the UK. He regularly speaks at external and HFW conferences.
Richard is qualified in England and Wales.