Katie JoukadjianClifford Chance has launched a dedicated transactional construction team in Australia to address the increase in capital deployments across sophisticated and innovative projects in various sectors in the country and the Asia-Pacific region.
Matthew Buchanan, partner and head of construction Asia Pacific at Clifford Chance, told Asia Business Law Journal, that newly hired counsel Katie Joukadjian would lead the team and there was an associated expansion needing specialist procurement expertise.
Nadia Kalic, Clifford Chance’s partner and global co-head of energy and resources, added, “While we have existing partners and counsel in Australia who advise on construction matters as part of their broader transactional, financing and disputes practices, Katie enhances this existing offering and brings a dedicated focus and deep expertise in this area.”
Kalic said Joukadjian had extensive experience advising developers, sponsors, lenders, investors and contractors on all aspects of the procurement and delivery of high-profile projects across the energy and resources, infrastructure and real estate sectors.
Joukadjian rejoins Clifford Chance from Pinsent Masons where she served as special counsel for five years. Prior to joining Pinsent Masons, she had worked at Clifford Chance’s United Arab Emirates office as senior associate for three years.
Some of her achievements include advising the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in connection with the development of the second stage of the Wambo Wind Farm in Queensland, adding 41 new wind turbines and increasing energy generation by an additional 250MW, and advising a bidder on its tender for the replacement of the existing Myki system and long-term operation of the Victorian public transport ticketing system.
Kalic also observed that major Australian projects were being procured under a range of complex delivery models, novel funding arrangements and innovative contracting structures all in the context of significant levels of regulation at the state and federal level. She highlighted that guiding clients through this convergence towards optimal outcomes highlights the critical value of a dedicated front-end team.
This hire and launch reflect the firm’s strategic growth in Australia, which would be achieved in several ways, including through expanding our private capital and major projects practice, securing more work with our existing, core clients and investing in talent, said Kalic.