James Casey is a Chartered Commercial and Contracts Expert, ADR ODR International Accredited Civil & Commercial Mediator, and dispute resolution specialist with over 18 years of international experience across the UAE, Canada, Ireland, and Poland. His career spans major infrastructure, master-planned developments, National Housing programmes, and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), with an emphasis on commercial contract administration, procurement, claims management, and proactive dispute avoidance.  

James currently serves as Commercial & Contracts Expert Advisor at the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre (ADPIC), where he provides strategic contractual oversight for the Abu Dhabi Government’s annual capital expenditure (CAPEX) portfolio. In this capacity, he spearheaded the publication of the standardized Abu Dhabi General Conditions of Contract (ADGCC) suite (Construction, Design & Build, and Short Form). This landmark initiative embedded mandatory Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Boards (DAABs) into government contracting and earned ADPIC a prestigious FIDIC Contract Users Award.

James has extensive experience directing high-value commercial negotiations and closing multi-billion-dirham development and PPP agreements with prominent Abu Dhabi master developers. He has routinely evaluated, pursued, and defended multi-million-dirham extension of time (EOT), prolongation, and disruption claims, working across FIDIC forms (Red, Yellow, Silver) as well as complex bespoke agreements.  

James holds a BSc (Hons) in Construction Management and is a professional member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), and a Certified Commercial and Contract Management Practitioner (CCMP). Combining deep technical knowledge of construction and procurement law with a pragmatic, facilitative approach, James draws on his cross-border and cross-cultural experience to guide parties through complex, high-stakes commercial disputes toward robust, practical resolutions.