Bianca has a range of domestic and international experience in energy, construction and engineering disputes with a particular focus on international arbitration. Bianca has experience under most of the major arbitral institutional rules, including ICC, LCIA and SIAC and has acted in disputes across a number of jurisdictions and industry sectors (often applying foreign substantive law) such as transport, infrastructure, water and utilities, and nuclear power.
Prior to training and qualifying as a solicitor in the UK, Bianca spent over three years in Asia where she worked at a Hong Kong law firm and gained experience of the Hong Kong courts as well as in a range of contentious and non-contentious commercial matters.
Specialist expertise
Examples of Bianca's expertise include:
International Arbitration
- acting for a joint venture including one of the largest construction companies in the US, and one of the Middle East’s largest construction companies, in relation to complex disputes arising out of a major metro development in the Middle East. ICC arbitration proceedings concerning several hundreds of millions of US dollars, involving issues concerning change orders, delay, and design issues;
- acting for a Chinese contractor in relation to a US$25 million dispute with an African government concerning a dam project;
- acting for a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company in relation to a US$2.4 billion dispute in ICC arbitration proceedings concerning a major infrastructure project in the Middle East;
- acting for a Jamaican power company in relation to a US multi-million-dollar dispute under ICC arbitration proceedings. The project concerned a combined cycle power plant and the works were governed by an EPC Contract;
- acting for a contractor in a dispute in relation to the rehabilitation, design and construction of a road of national significance in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, using the FIDIC Multilateral Development Bank Harmonised Edition March 2006 (the Pink Book) as amended, involving several dispute board referrals, the SIAC Rules of Arbitration, and advance payment issues;
- acting for a subcontractor in a dispute with the lead contractor on a nuclear power plant project in Brazil. Arbitration under the LCA (The London Chamber of Arbitration);
- acting for a Chinese contractor in relation to a US$35 million dispute with a State Highway Authority in ICC arbitration proceedings concerning the responsibility for the delay to a highway project in the Middle East.
Reported Court Proceedings
- acting for the National Infrastructure Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago in successfully obtaining summary judgment in both the English Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal for the sum of US$58,786,756 in respect of proceedings brought against various international banks for amounts claimed under various standby letters of credit (on-demand bonds). The standby letters of credit were issued pursuant to a FIDIC Yellow Book contract for highway construction works carried out by a Brazilian company in Trinidad. Payments were ordered to be made pursuant to all of the standby letters of credit.
Adjudication Proceedings
- acting for insurers in adjudication proceedings concerning alleged professional negligence of an architectural firm;
- acting for an architectural firm in adjudication proceedings concerning alleged professional negligence in a high value residential property redevelopment in Kensington;
- acting for contractors and subcontractors in adjudications (and related enforcement proceedings) over various issues including variations, delay, prolongation and loss and expense, conditions precedent and the validity of notices, ranging in value and arising out of different forms of contract (such as JCT and NEC3); assisting in relation to disputes arising out of alleged defects at a further education college;
- acting for a variety of clients in relation to debt recovery and insolvency.
Academics
Bianca obtained her LL.B (Hons) from the University of Nottingham and completed her Legal Practice Course at the University of Law in London. After completing her legal studies, Bianca moved to Taiwan where she studied at the Mandarin Training Centre of the National Taiwan Normal University – 國立台灣師範大學, 國語教學中心.
Bianca is fluent in Afrikaans and can read and write traditional Chinese.
Other activities and memberships
- member of the Society of Construction Law (U.K. and Hong Kong SAR);
- member of the Technology and Construction Solicitors’ Association (TECSA);
- member of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC);
- member of the FCC, H.K.
