Global law firm Clyde & Co has announced a further addition to its APAC Projects & Construction team with the hire as a partner and relocation to Sydney of Damian Watkin effective 1 January 2021.

Damian is a major projects and international dispute resolution specialist, primarily focused on the energy, construction (onshore and offshore), infrastructure and natural resources sectors. 

This marks a return to Sydney practice for Damian, having also practiced in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. A barrister of over 15 years’ experience, Damian has led numerous substantial international arbitrations around the world under various arbitral rules and governing laws. Damian is also extensively experienced in conducting high-value litigations before the senior courts of Australia and England & Wales, plus expert determination and dispute review board proceedings. 

Damian's addition to the Australian team bolster Clyde & Co’s market-leading credentials as trusted counsel to all major projects participants, including advising on the innate complexities of large-scale domestic and cross-border disputes.  

Damian has relocated from the UK to Australia in early January but had already commenced working with our APAC team in the months prior, capitalising on changes to the traditional workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent fast adaptation of the team to a largely off-site, digitally connected workplace.

Speaking on Damian's appointment, Chairman of the APAC Board, Chris Jobson, comments: 

"We are delighted that Damian has joined Clyde & Co as partner and that he will be working with us in APAC. His extensive experience in the global projects and construction sector will be enormously beneficial to our clients. Damian's addition to our global partnership is also further evidence of Clyde & Co's resilience in the legal market and I look forward to our growth continuing despite the COVID-19 crisis."

David McElveney, Head of Clyde & Co's Australian Projects & Construction group and Joint Head of the Asia Pacific Projects & Construction group, adds:

“Our projects and construction team is committed to providing the best legal services to our clients wherever they operate. The relocation of Damian from the UK to Australia, despite the challenges of COVID-19, is testament to this and the firm’s commitment to further strengthening our projects and construction offering in APAC.

"Damian, like all of our projects and construction partners in Australia, has first-rate global experience. The international experience of our partners and our deep global expertise applied locally and regionally, is what truly sets us apart from other construction teams operating in Australia. I look forward to our clients getting to know Damian. I’m sure they will enjoy working with him and that Damian will soon be established as a leading construction lawyer in the Australian and wider APAC markets.”

On joining the Clyde & Co's APAC team Damian says: 

"I’m immensely proud to be working at a firm so strongly associated with the major projects sector, and to whom clients repeatedly entrust their highest-stakes issues globally. Clyde & Co has an outstanding client base and involvement in some of the most significant energy and infrastructure projects throughout APAC.

"Working alongside an esteemed major projects bench, I look forward to helping our clients meet the extraordinary challenges posed by COVID-19 and assisting them mitigate its impact on their interests and assets."

Clyde & Co has seen significant growth in Australia over the past year. Damian's hire follows the hiring of marine partner Nic Van Der Reyden in Sydney from HFW and four insurance partners from Norton Rose Fulbright, Nicole Wearne, Ganga Narayanan and Mark Attard in Melbourne and Jehan-Philippe Wood in Perth.