Sarah established SCL as an independent consultancy in early 2014. She approaches 20 years of accredited experience as a solicitor (England and Wales, 2001) specialising in construction and engineering projects. She trained and qualified at DLA Piper, then worked at Berwin Leighton Paisner before moving in-house to pursue her desire to get into the heart of business operations. She spent 10 years as a senior solicitor at London Underground, Transport for London and WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff, gaining valuable experience in the real world of project delivery and international operations. In 2007 she qualified as an advocate of the Higher Courts (All Courts, England and Wales) having been mentored by a top-rated QC at Keating Chambers in London, and has appeared in the Court of Appeal.  

 

Sarah works with a wide variety of project delivery organisations, who operate at several tiers of the construction and engineering industry. She is a "whole-life advisor", guiding SCL's clients (as their part in the project requires) all the way through pre-conception or "vision"; corporate and contract strategy; procurement; contract negotiation; project  delivery; commissioning, completion and handover; and then supporting the project's passage into operations, maintenance and legacy.

 

Sarah advises on all aspects of project delivery: contracts, claims and disputes, and risk management and insurance strategies, as well as broader organisational infrastructure support to ensure contracts can be managed effectively and efficiently by the business's functions. 

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Sarah advocates confident and competent contract and commercial management, and focuses on putting law in its practical and purposive context (hence SCL's strapline). She is particularly interested in the "people" aspect of projects, and how project outcomes are affected by behaviour and culture. 

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Her industry experience and ability to work cross-functionally enable her to operate at the highest levels of an organisation with sensitivity to the daily need to deliver business objectives and value to clients.

 

She has developed a particular expertise in portfolio, project and programme management (P3M) as relates to law and strategy, and writes, speaks, and teaches regularly on the subject.  

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On the training side, Sarah designs bespoke workshops and programmes for industry organisations. In addition, she is retained by leading seminar organisers to design and deliver workshops, and is working with various educational establishments on their student programmes. Her training is consistently rated as excellent, and she delivers rich content with energy and expertise. 

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Sarah is active: she speaks regularly at industry and legal conferences, writes for various publications, and contributes to online forums.  

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Sarah speaks French, German and Spanish in addition to English.

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Sarah is based in central London, UK, but travels regularly for international client business.    

Schutte Consulting Limited operates as a consultancy, not a law firm.