Projects Lawyers generally work hand in hand with a range of other lawyers, but notably finance, property and construction to facilitate complex infrastructure, construction and redevelopment projects.
This work is largely the domain of the larger national and international practices and can be both national and international. Projects relate to a wide range of sectors but particularly energy, transport, health, utilities and waste.
Transform your career in Project Law
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a procurement method which uses private sector expertise and resources in order to deliver public sector infrastructure and/or service. It is a sub-set of a broader procurement approach termed Public Private Partnership (PPP), with the main defining characteristic being the use of project finance (and in particular, using private sector debt and equity) in order to deliver the public services. The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) – an aspect of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) – historically dominated this sector introducing private funding and management into areas that were previously public sector domains.
There are a diverse range of parties involved that require legal representation and firms tend to either work for the project company (often a joint venture itself), government bodies or banks (who are often party to the JV) or those commissioning the projects. There are also firms that act purely on the finance side for banks, guarantors, governments and international funding agencies.
We regularly get instructed on projects roles and firms outside of London are often happy to train lawyers with relevant skills, given the diversity of skills required within the role they are looking for core skills that they can shape – construction, finance, corporate and property lawyers have all been known to retrain into this are of work.