Claims Consultancy & Expert Advisory

TPM is one of the largest and most experienced claims management firms around the world. Our consultants have dealt with every type of construction and engineering project. These include some of the most high-profile and complex projects in the world. Over two decades we have acted for our clients in more than 1,000 disputes worth in excess of US$20 billion.

We have built a multi-disciplinary team of talented claims specialists drawing on the expertise of engineers, architects, project and construction managers, quantity surveyors, lawyers, forensic accountants, and a range of specialists in scheduling, delay and disruption analysis, and other facets of construction.

Our claims specialists investigate and analyse the causes and effects of the events that have arisen, prepare submissions and present your case. Their skills and experience are invaluable when analyzing contractual liability and causation, and quantifying the effects in pursuing or defending claims. This thorough evaluation leads to the best solution for our clients, who may be:  

• claimants or defendants
• owners and governments
• contractors or subcontractors
• architectural practices
• engineering consultants
• law firms
• insurance companies
• commercial & investment banks

Experience teaches us that the best place to start practicing dispute avoidance is at tender stage with the selection of the right contracting framework and a thorough review of the parties’ obligations, interface requirements, and contractual procedures and mechanisms.

Nevertheless, our specialists can make a significant impact at any stage of a project by exercising tailor-made dispute avoidance practices.  We use our insight to dissect the contract and prepare a straight-forward set of contract procedures designed to protect your rights and interests, and capitalize on opportunities.

During the execution of projects, early identification of problems and issues is key to dispute avoidance and managing parties’ expectations. By combining technical disciplines with an in depth understanding of contracts, commercial and planning our specialist teams are highly valued as much for their ability to anticipate these challenges, as for mitigating and resolving them. Our advice, which is informed by relevant, real-world experience, helps avoid costly and time-consuming disputes.

Dispute avoidance requires acute professional objectivity and forensic skills. These are brought to bear by:

• Providing authoritative advice on contracting frameworks, based on appropriate procurement strategy
• Focusing on risk allocation, procurement and warranty terms as well as indemnity provision
• Preparing comprehensive contract administration procedures
• Scheduling analysis
• Auditing programme sequencing
• Evaluating processes and systems for validating quality and payment mechanisms
• Recommending suitable project controls solutions

Experience teaches us that the best place to start practicing dispute avoidance is at tender. Our proven toolkit of dispute resolution services includes methods developed in-house that have been shaped by this vast experience and proven in different sectors and territories.  

Our dispute resolution services are comprehensive:  

• Independent third-party assessments
• Adjudication
• Arbitration
• Dispute boards and contract adjudication
• Mediation
• Litigation

Our consultants are highly experienced in managing adjudication proceedings and act in one of four distinct roles to ensure that complex legal issues are dealt with effectively during the adjudication:  

1. as lead party representatives for claimants or defendants
2. in an advisory capacity working collaboratively with party-appointed or in-house legal teams providing valuable insight into quantum, delay and technical matters
3. as independent expert witnesses in quantum and/or delay and/or technical matters in order to assist the adjudicator on complex disputes. Our experts are regularly instructed by leading legal firms across the UK on such issues.
4. as Adjudicators nominated by the parties or leading Adjudicator Nominating Bodies. This experience allows us to provide an effective insight into the adjudication process.  

Once an adjudicator issues an award, the decision is binding and where a party has failed to comply with that decision, we can assist our clients in selecting the correct legal representation to commence enforcement proceedings in the courts.  

In summary, our adjudication service offering includes:  

• performing an initial assessment of the merits of the case
• advising on necessary details and evidence
• preparing adjudication submissions
• acting as party representative
• acting as advisor in collaboration with legal teams
• acting as independent expert witnesses
• acting as adjudicator
• introducing trusted legal firms to allow enforcement proceedings in the courts

TPM provides a full managed arbitration service in accordance with the arbitration agreement.  

This service includes:  

• Guidance and advice through each step of the arbitration process: timescales, procedural rules and matters, submissions, roles and responsibilities of those involved
• Advice on key appointments: arbitrators, counsel and expert witnesses
• Organization of hearing venues and transcription services
• Advice on witnesses of fact and witness statements
• Fact and expert witnesses
• Review and explanation of award

Dispute boards and contract adjudication are party-agreed mechanisms for the independent and impartial deciding of disputes that arise between parties on construction and engineering projects. One or three independent persons are selected and appointed by the parties.  

The benefits of dispute boards and contract adjudication include ‘fast-track’ and ‘real-time’ decisions given during the project. Early decisions allow parties to proceed with certainty and prevent the stacking-up of disputes at the end of projects.

Standing dispute boards and contract adjudicators act through the duration of a contract and have the advantages of building up extensive knowledge of a project and its evolving issues as well as establishing trust and mutual respect with the parties. These advantages make for an effective dispute resolution process – the majority of dispute board and contract adjudication decisions fully resolve party disputes or facilitate amicable settlement by the parties themselves.  

Dispute boards and contract adjudication have become standard features of the most widely used international forms of contract. Williams TPM provides the full range of expert services needed to secure favorable decisions, including:  

• Dispute strategy and management of proceedings, including hearings
• Written and oral advocacy of case
• Expert witness reports
• Dealing with jurisdictional and other types of challenge
• Amicable settlement and without prejudice negotiations

As consultants, our comprehensive command of all technical and legal issues ensures clients benefit from the best available advice. Where we act as mediator in mediation, both parties can be assured of a fair outcome designed not to compromise their relationship so they can move forward.

Based on our unrivalled experience, we developed a unique alternative form of dispute resolution that blends our technical analysis and mediation services. It is called Project Neutral.

Retained jointly, Williams TPM experts objectively assess the matters in dispute and clearly present their findings to both sides. A trained mediator leads our team and our clients’ advisers as they search for imaginative solutions and move towards a negotiated settlement.

The Project Neutral approach allows both sides, and their counsel, to maintain control of the process and the resulting settlement.   We also provide advice on further actions to take if a settlement cannot be reached.

This tends to be an ex-contractual process, where we are appointed at the agreement of both parties to carry out an independent assessment of their dispute. The parties provide a copy of the contract and their claims, and give us access to project records and key staff. This allows us to gain a full understanding of the contractual framework and events and issues that have arisen on the project.

Based on all the project information made available, we perform a detailed analysis of the contract and factual matrix surrounding each event and issue, and also carry out our own delay analysis and quantum evaluation to establish the contractual entitlements of the parties.

Upon completion, we present findings and conclusions to both parties, facilitate negotiations, and draft the settlement agreement.

TPM is one of the world’s leading expert witness practice in the engineering and construction industries.  

Quantifying the cost and time impacts, investigating engineering issues, assessing effectiveness of the project management and analyzing delay, disruption, damages and government contracts – all require specialist expertise. TPM, we have hundreds of experts with vast experience in every industry sector and discipline. They have the commercial, financial, planning, scheduling, technical and language skills to get quickly to the heart of the most complex issues.  

Our experts are specialists in quantum, engineering, delay, disruption and damages (QED+).  This gives clients direct access to the range of experts they require, from a single source, with one point of contact. QED+ improves the entire dispute resolution process. In the engineering field alone, our specialist disciplines range from marine to metallurgy and materials, electrical to environmental, and process to power engineering. Our engineers work alongside our construction managers, forensic accountants, planners and schedulers, project managers, and quantity surveyors, many of whom are dual-qualified, mostly in construction law and arbitration.  

We’re also proud to be an accredited Corporate Provider of Expert Services with the Academy of Experts with individually accredited experts from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. We are currently the largest Corporate Provider within the Academy of Experts.

The expert agrees a procedure with both parties and studies the parties’ respective position statements and any documents provided in support. There is usually no provision for the parties to change their position or amend their case during the process. The expert consults with the parties privately, and may consult with them both together, but is under no obligation to do so unless it is made a term of appointment.  

In the role of investigator, the expert is required to find the facts and law in relation to the issues in dispute, to make enquiries, perform tests and calculations and to form his or her own opinion and decide upon the merits of the parties’ positions. Depending upon the issues, expert determination can involve extensive research and a hearing, and can take anything from a week to several months.  

Given their authority in technical disciplines relevant to projects – from construction and manufacturing to processes and technology – Williams TPM experts have determined disputes in most sectors.

When instructed to act as expert adviser, our consultants are able to make a significant contribution to the development of a claim or defense, further information requests/replies and disclosure inspection. Through our considerable real project expertise and understanding of the dispute resolution process, we are able to focus on the issues that matter most.  

As a provider of expert advisory services, we can assist in case preparation and help to bridge the technical and legal divide. We are able to draw on dedicated IT and graphic resources, which can speed up analysis and investigation, and can help otherwise complex issues to be clearly understood. We can help clients minimize the risk of running cases that do not stand up to close and detailed scrutiny. Our input assists in claims being better researched and structured. It is our experience that this promotes a greater likelihood of settlement, and ultimately reduces costs.

Our pre-eminent position in this area is widely acknowledged, with considerable recognition from legal communities for our construction dispute expert witnesses.  

Our engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, accountants, project managers, planners, delay and disruption analysts, and construction managers bring to bear a vast range of skills and expertise which enables them to act as expert witness in a wide variety of disputes spanning the whole construction and engineering industry.  

We are well-versed in arbitration and litigation processes and can recommend the most appropriate experts to testify in any case. All experts are carefully screened for availability and potential conflicts before being put forward for consideration.  

Our experts draft well-structured reports and are skilled in presenting evidence, bringing clarity and authority to any case.  

Williams TPM employs some of the world’s foremost experts in many disciplines, including:  

• Accounting
• Construction management
• Delay and disruption
• Financial quantum
• Planning and scheduling
• Project management
• Project monitoring
• Electrical engineering
• Health, safety and environmental
• Instrumentation and control systems
• Marine engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Metallurgy and materials
• Power engineering
• Process engineering
• Structural engineering
• Buildings defects
• Construction failure
• Professional competence
• Standard of care

We’ve worked on some of the world’s most complex projects in quantum disputes, so you can rest assured our team has the ability and experience to tackle even the most in-depth issues. Many of our quantum experts have presented quantum analysis reports as evidence for clients in disputes that have reached mediation, arbitration, adjudication and litigation dispute resolution forums. Several of our quantum experts are also multi-lingual, meaning we have the capacity to assist clients in most regions globally.

Our approach to quantum analysis begins with a performance audit of the contractor’s project costs ledgers. Based on our claim analysis and auditing, the Williams TPM team prepares an independent estimate of the costs the contractor may be entitled to recover under the relevant contract clause granting remedy or under breach of contract or tort law.  

When reviewing damages, we analyze the contractor’s efforts to mitigate its damages, its cost accounting system, and the method used to calculate damages. The proper allocation of cost may often be the key to a client establishing its recoverability as part of a construction claim.  

Our expert teams draw on specialist expertise from a range of areas for this work, including:  

• Cost engineering and quantity surveying
• Construction cost auditing
• Assessment of damages, additional costs, loss and expense
• Forensic accounting
• Estimations and valuations
• Evaluating change orders
• Evaluation at termination
• Forecast cost to completion

Clients use our delay and disruption analyses to prove the relationship between cause and effect when presenting claims for delay and disruption in various forums.  

We can use a variety of methods when analyzing delay during the construction process, choosing the most appropriate to the circumstances.  

Our teams also audit programme sequencing, and they advise on and help prepare appropriate submissions to the contract administrator in response to the effects of change, and calculate the exact impact of disruption on the completion date.

Disputes

Our experts work both independently and in conjunction with our global delay, quantum and technical experts to present evidence (both written and oral) before courts, arbitration tribunals and in mediations.  

Our team advises clients on complex contentious matters and are instructed on disputes requiring the quantification of lost profits arising from breach of contracts and warranties, valuations resulting from expropriation and shareholder disputes, and quantification of damages in respect of class actions, professional negligence, insurance claims and post-acquisition disputes.

Investigations  

Our team assists clients by undertaking fraud, forensic, intellectual property and regulatory investigations across the globe. They are experienced in investigating allegations of bribery and corruption, performing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related investigations and compliance reviews, assessing allegations of mismanagement and investigating corporate fraud.  

Our forensic accounting and commercial damages team is experienced in matters including:  

Valuations
— Investor-state disputes/expropriation
— Shareholder disputes
— M&A disputes  

Economic Damages
— Breach of contract/loss of profits
— Insurance claims
— Class actions
— Post-acquisition disputes
— Professional negligence
— Assessment of incurred costs
— Loss of investment opportunity   Investigations
— Corporate

Investigations
— Fraud
— Regulatory
— Accounting irregularities
— Asset Misappropriation
— Funds Tracing  

Bankruptcy
— Feasibility Studies
— Fraudulent Conveyance
— Preference Claims
— Solvency Analyses  

Intellectual Property
— Trademark/Copyright Infringement
— Trade Secret Misappropriation
— Licensing

Our government contract experts understand the complex business and regulatory climate in which government contractors operate, and we are committed to finding practical, cost-effective solutions that address these challenges.  

We help prepare and analyze government contract claims across a variety of industries. We apply our comprehensive knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, and other relevant regulations during our analysis of these claims. Our team has considerable consulting experience related to the Defense Contract Audit Agency’s Contract Audit Manual, and with the DCAA’s audit programs.  

Our experts have testified on Government contract matters at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, as well as other state and Federal courts. We also provide assistance in negotiations relating to disputes and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.  

Our team has substantial experience in government contract matters including:  

Government Contracts Practice Services
• Bid Protest Assistance
• Fraud and/or False Claims Act Investigations
• Requests for Equitable Adjustment & Claims
• Contract Terminations
• Prime Contractor & Subcontract Disputes  

Compliance Reviews & Audit Services
• Cost Allowability & Incurred Cost Submissions
• Evaluation and Rebuttal of DCAA Audit Repots
• Truth in Negotiations Act Compliance & Defective Pricing  

Other Government Contractor Support
• Emerging Contractor Services
• Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence
• Post-Acquisition Integration Activities
• Commercial Pricing and Federal Supply Schedule Contracting