About C&IDS
Experienced construction counsel inside your business
Established in 2019, C&IDS places experienced construction counsel within your business, working alongside your management, commercial and project teams. C&IDS offers one embedded in-house role, with the time commitment tailored to your business: the scope, availability and monthly hours are agreed around your priorities, for a single fixed monthly fee. You gain someone who understands the context, questions assumptions and helps you decide what deserves attention while useful options remain.
Your lawyer tests each position against the contract and the project records, helps you decide which issues justify the cost of pursuing, and prepares each one so that it can be resolved by negotiation, adjudication or, where necessary, arbitration. Remote working and technology help keep the model lean and the pricing competitive.
28
Years of Construction Law Experience, 25 of Them in the GCC
20
Countries Worked In
65% Cost Saving
Over Traditional Specialist Law Firms (typical)
Who We Help
C&IDS places experienced construction counsel inside main contractors, subcontractors, developers, investors, and FM and O&M operators across the UK, GCC and Africa. Your lawyer works alongside your management, commercial and project teams, whether you have a single live contract or a portfolio of programmes. The role runs from Contract Drafting & Negotiation and live Project Legal Advice to Claims Administration and Dispute Strategy & Resolution.
Main Contractors
Civil, MEP, EPC and building contractors with live FIDIC or bespoke contracts. Contract administration support, claims administration and dispute strategy for complex multi-contract programmes.
Specialist Subcontractors
MEP, piling, facades, fit-out, roads and utilities subcontractors facing onerous subcontract terms, payment disputes and delay claims from main contractors. We level the playing field.
Developers & Investors
Residential, commercial and infrastructure developers structuring contracts, managing contractor performance and resolving disputes on development programmes across the UK, Africa and GCC.
Energy & Infrastructure
EPC contractors, PMCs and engineering firms delivering power, water, transport and industrial infrastructure. FIDIC Silver Book, BOT concessions and O&M contract expertise.
New Market Entry
Chinese, Korean, European and US contractors entering the UAE, KSA, UK or African markets who need embedded local-market legal expertise for their first project cycles — without the law firm overhead.
FM & O&M Operators
Facilities management and operations & maintenance businesses navigating performance regimes, KPI disputes, step-in rights and scope variation claims under long-term FM contracts.
Work Directly With The Founder
Steven currently delivers the embedded counsel role personally. You work with him directly, building an understanding of your business that carries from one matter to the next.
Steven is a construction lawyer with 28 years’ post-qualification experience, who has acted for employers, developers, main contractors and subcontractors across the UK, GCC and Africa. His work runs from drafting and negotiating building contracts and professional appointments, through day-to-day contractual risk management and claims, to formal dispute resolution.
He has worked inside the business as well as in private practice: as in-house senior construction and projects counsel with Nakheel, and later with the project teams on two multi-billion-dollar power station projects in South Africa. He has held partner-level positions at international law firms, including Head of Construction Law at Al Tamimi & Company.
Steven Hunt
Founder & Managing Director
