George McDonald

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 litigation and other seminal cases. Recent cases include many collective actions (e.g. Coll v Google, Kent v Apple, Which? v Qualcomm), the Mirror Newspaper phone hacking litigation, the FX litigation, the Royal Mail Group litigation, the emissions charges litigation involving VW/Vauxhall/Mercedes, many novel representative actions for major data breaches, the Mastercard Interchange Charges litigation, the Mau Mau litigation, the Military Deafness litigation, the Air Cargo Cartel litigation, and the leading case on Part 36 offers and interest in the Court of Appeal.

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.