Construction and engineering disputes solicitor Kai von Pahlen has been appointed as a Specialist Practice Consultant (SPC) for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the global professional membership body for architects.
The SPC service provides RIBA’s 44,000 architect members with access to approved consultants and industry experts whose specialist legal, technical and professional knowledge enables them to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards.
As a result of the appointment, Kai will advise RIBA members on building contract disputes – including Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) and New Engineering Contract (NEC) contracts – adjudication, contract administration, liabilities, defects and property damage.
Kai said: “The RIBA is a hugely respected professional body which has been serving its members and helping architects deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment since its inception in 1834.
“I am very pleased and excited about this appointment. I enjoy working with architects and am very much looking to making new connections via the SPC service.”
Kai becomes the second member of Thrings’ Construction team to be appointed as a SPC for the RIBA, with partner Steve McCombe, who has almost 30 years’ experience of resolving construction and engineering disputes, having taken up the position more than 10 years ago.
The appointment also marks a continuation of Kai’s ongoing commitment to independent professional industry bodies, with his lecturing duties for the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) ensuring he retains an in-depth understanding of the engineering sector and the issues and challenges it faces.
Warren Reid, head of Commercial Property at Thrings, added: “Kai is a highly experienced construction law specialist, and on behalf of everyone at Thrings, I would like to congratulate him on being appointed by such an established and respected organisation.
“Kai is joining an elite group of lawyers that have been recognised for the high quality advice they offer architects. I am certain the professionalism and integrity with which he advises his own clients will be extended to members of the RIBA.
“A number of Thrings lawyers are members of independent professional bodies, and the additional knowledge they gain from working with their industry peers ensures they are ideally placed to deliver the specialist, proactive legal advice their clients have come to expect.”
News of Kai’s appointment provides a further boost to Thrings’ Construction team which earlier this month strengthened its offering to clients with the appointment of new partner Michael Chilton, a non-contentious construction specialist and qualified quantity surveyor.
