JUNIOR PROFILE
George McDonald

George McDonald

UK Bar 2026

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Ranked in 3 practice areas

About

Provided by 4 New Square Chambers

UK Bar

Practice Areas

George has extensive experience of commercial disputes with a real focus on construction, costs and international arbitration. In costs, George is regularly instructed as sole costs counsel in major pieces of group/class action litigation and other seminal cases. Recent cases include many collective actions (e.g. Coll v Google, Kent v Apple, Which? v Qualcomm), the News Group Newspaper and Mirror Group phone hacking litigations, the FX litigation, the Royal Mail Group litigation, the emissions charges litigation, many novel representative actions for major data breaches, and the leading cases in the Court of Appeal on solicitor-client disputes (Belsner and Ivanishvili) as well as in respect of Part 36 offers and interest (King). He also frequently advises firms and third party funders about complex funding structures and retainers. In construction, George acts on substantial domestic and international claims. This includes civil claims arising from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, substantial disputes about many separate PFI contracts, a complex arbitration claim worth in excess of £100million relating to a nuclear facilities construction project, and in claims worth around £200million against the government relating to subsidies for solar power. He has considerable experience of the various dispute resolution processes commonly encountered on large construction and commercial contracts and is highly regarded in this field.

Career

BA (Oxon) (1st class). Worcester College Scholar. Called in 2007 (Hardwicke and Shelford Scholar).

Professional Memberships

PNBA, COMBAR, TECBAR, SCL.

Publications

Lexis Nexis PSL Costs Practice Notes.

Personal

Qualified USPTA tennis coach and keen sportsman.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

UK Bar

Costs Litigation - All Circuits

Star Individual
Star Individuals

Individual Editorial

George McDonald represents a range of clients in complex costs disputes, and has particular experience of handling specific costs issues relating to large group actions and complicated funding structures. He is experienced at representing clients before the Supreme Court and is a past master at handling solicitor-client disputes. McDonald is regularly instructed as sole counsel in major pieces of litigation.

Group Litigation - All Circuits

Band 2
Band 2

Individual Editorial

George McDonald is vastly experienced in the management of group claims throughout their life-cycle. His expertise covers traditional GLO cases and representative actions via CPR 19.6 or competition law. He is also highly regarded for his expertise in the funding and cost mechanisms of group litigation.

Construction - London (Bar)

Band 3
Band 3

Individual Editorial

George McDonald is a highly regarded junior with extensive experience in major construction litigation and arbitration. He has particularly notable expertise in disputes arising from large government projects.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • George has an encyclopaedic knowledge. He is very practical in his approach and is solutions focused - a real details person.

    Costs LitigationUK Bar
  • George is fantastic - smart, enthusiastic, very hard-working and a pleasure to deal with.

    Costs LitigationUK Bar
  • George is at the top level for senior juniors specialising in costs. There are simply no weaknesses in his skill set. When handling high-value and complex work, his grasp of the detail is exemplary.

    Costs LitigationUK Bar
  • He was excellent in coming into a long-running and complex case and assisting in drafting costs submissions following judgment.

    Group LitigationUK Bar
  • George McDonald is brilliant and strong on data.

    ConstructionUK Bar
  • George McDonald is very good and I really rate him.

    ConstructionUK Bar

Ranked Barristers at 4 New Square Chambers (186)

All Circuits

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