An interview with Cerys McRobert

What is your background and experience in the property industry?

My area of practice is non-contentious construction law. My first experiences of construction were working on litigation cases, but I moved over to specialising in non-contentious construction when I qualified; working in private practice for local authority clients on development work/procurement and tendering advice. Since then, I have worked specialising in development work and commercial property transactions acting for funders, purchasers, tenants and developers. Before joining Newmanor Law I also worked for a London Local Authority which involved working on a much wider range of commercial contracts, including but not limited to construction. This gave me a wider experience of contracts and negotiations.

Can you tell us a bit about your business and what you do?

I am happy to be back specialising in commercial construction contracts for Newmanor Law which involves assisting all members of the property finance and property development teams with all construction aspects of a transaction. I advise on a wide range of construction related issues including advising on obligations in agreements for lease, due diligence of construction documents on a sale or for lenders, and/or drafting of development documents, including the industry standard forms and legal advice and assistance to clients and members of the project team. I also advise developers and clients on their construction contracts including drafting and negotiation of bespoke documents and industry standard forms.

Who are your typical clients, and how do you market your service?

I tend to be advising those with commercial property interests in the private sector at present. Within this there is a broad range including: institutional funders, tenants, purchasers, and contractors and developers. In each instance the needs of the client on any particular transaction are different and my approach is always tailored to their requirements.

I advise on discrete items e.g. bespoke documents/drafting/interpretation of building contract provisions/the new health and safety regime and drafting and negotiating on larger transactions which usually includes setting up a suite of documents for the development process.

Marketing has historically been by word of mouth and via the property teams at Newmanor Law, but I am looking to expand this with the team. We intend to market our construction services more widely by coming out to potential and existing clients with talks tailored to show how our construction advice adds value to a transaction – watch this space for items that may be of interest!

How did you first cross paths with Newmanor Law?

I worked with Karen Mason at Boodle Hatfield some years ago and was very excited to join the team at Newmanor Law in 2019 as the first construction consultant and to be one of the early joiners.