Melissa Shipley acts for Highways England in TCC M25 dispute, as a junior to Anneliese Day QC and Isabel Hitching, instructed by DLA Piper.

Melissa Shipley, led by Anneliese Day QC and Isabel Hitching, represented Highways England Company Limited ('HEC') in the TCC. The dispute concerned the proper construction of a £6.2 billion 30-year Design, Build, Finance and Operate Contract ('the DBFO Contract') between Connect Plus and the HEC. Specifically, the dispute concerned the definition of 'Critical Incident' for the purposes of the application of the 'Critical Incident Adjustment', a payment adjustment in the DBFO Contract.

HEC secured a declaration that, amongst other things, the declaration of a Critical Incident is a matter for the Secretary of State. O'Farrell J rejected Connect Plus' arguments that there was a binding post-contractual agreement that Connect Plus would declare Critical Incidents and/or the parties' post-contractual conduct gave rise to an estoppel.

View the full judgment on Bailii here.