Five Minutes with Justin Mendelle

Justin Mendelle is Sharpe Pritchard’s Senior Partner. He is in the Construction and Dispute Resolution team and joined Sharpe Pritchard in 2009.

We spent five minutes with Justin to learn more about him and the work he does.

Tell us about your role at Sharpe Pritchard

I am the firm’s senior partner. I sit on the executive committee and am responsible for the development and delivery of the firm’s strategy. I am also very actively involved in client facing work and act for a wide variety of public sector clients across a number of high profile matters. These range from high value disputes about major infrastructure projects to large scale construction schemes that serve and benefit the wider public.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Dog walk; Teams call; travel to the office; meetings; client visits; travel home; relax!

What is the most interesting project or matter you’ve worked on recently?

I’ve been advising on a multi-million pound dispute which has been through a mediation, 3 sets of High Court proceedings, a Court of Appeal hearing and an appeal to the Supreme Court. It’s been over 5 years and there hasn’t been a dull moment yet!

What do clients most commonly come to you for advice on?

Strategy, strategy and strategy. Clients want to know how they can most effectively deliver projects for the best value or how they can fairly and robusly settle a dispute.

What developments or trends are you currently keeping an eye on?

Without question, the biggest change in my professional life is the advent of AI. I wouldn’t be so foolish as to predict where it’s going, but it is changing law (and much else besides) at an astonishing pace.

What’s one misconception people have about your area of law?

That construction law is boring – if that were true, I wouldn’t still be doing it more than 20 years later!

What do you enjoy most about working at Sharpe Pritchard?

We have a 4 word motto – good work, good people. That says it all for me.

What piece of advice would you give to someone starting out in your profession?

Work hard, even when no-one else is watching. It pays off.

If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what would you have done?

I’d love to have been a singer/songwriter. The only 2 problems are that I can’t sing or write songs.

What’s something your colleagues might be surprised to learn about you?

I worked for a bookmaker for 3 months – nearly of my maths skills were honed during that period.

What book, podcast or TV programme would you recommend right now?

On the Calculation of Volume, Book 1. A really extraordinary book. And if you enjoy the first book, there are 2 more excellent ones to follow!

Complete this sentence: “People would be surprised how much of my job involves…”

“..sitting at a desk, typing….”