Francis Ho becomes Chair of the City of London Law Society Construction Law Committee

Francis Ho, Partner in our Construction, Engineering & Projects team, has been appointed Chair of the City of London Law Society (CLLS) Construction Law Committee on a five-year term.

The CLLS represents 70 of the UK’s largest law firms and counts more than 22,000 solicitors within its membership. Francis has been a member of the Committee for almost 12 years and has served as its Vice-Chair.

The Committee is a forum for senior construction lawyers in the City of London to meet and consider topical areas of construction law. It covers a wide range of areas including procurement, construction and infrastructure agreements, the energy sector, insurance matters, disputes, building safety and public policy, both in England and Wales and internationally. Guidance and precedents published by the Committee include the CLLS Letter of Intent 2024, the CLLS Novation Agreement, the CLLS Escrow Agreement and the CLLS Guidance for Borrower Reporting. Since 2008, it has provided free training to junior construction lawyers biennially through its popular “Foundations” programme.

Francis has substantial experience on ground-breaking schemes in the UK and overseas (particularly EMEA) and advises on a wide range of areas including data centres, the living sector, luxury and boutique hotels, sports stadia, universities, skyscrapers, renewables and other infrastructure using a wide range of procurement strategies. Francis also advises on distressed construction projects and remediation works, including building safety matters. He has significant experience in digital construction and ESG and is a well-known writer and speaker on legal issues.

On his election, Francis comments: 

It’s an honour to be chosen to chair the CLLS Construction Law Committee and to fill Matthew Jones’ substantial shoes. I will help the Committee serve the industry as it looks ahead at opportunities as well as structural challenges. The Committee continued to flourish under Matthew, who provided strong stewardship during an eventful period for the sector; I very much look forward to continuing this work in concert with our highly experienced and accomplished committee members. I’m immensely pleased to welcome Richard Ceeney as our new Vice-Chair and Tom Inker as our new Secretary.

"On our plate are inflationary costs, the continuing skills shortage, supply chain issues, net zero, EDI, emerging technologies (including AI) and potential new regulations relating to late payment and from Phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The Committee will offer guidance on these and other developments and maintain its strong and measured public voice.