GC Spotlight: Ben Bury builds a safer, smarter legal function at one of Hong Kong's largest contractors.

This month, we meet Ben Bury, Group General Counsel at Gammon Construction Limited, one of the largest construction companies in Hong Kong.

Ben joined Gammon in 2023, where he oversees the Legal Department covering governance, legal, compliance, insurance, and company secretarial services. He brings 20 years of experience working on construction projects in Hong Kong and across the globe. Prior to joining Gammon, Ben was a Partner at an international law firm.

Tell us about your current role and journey into law, and what excites you outside of work.

I'm Group General Counsel at Gammon Construction Limited, one of the largest construction companies in Hong Kong. I oversee a team of talented lawyers, paralegals, and other professionals who look after all the legal and insurance issues the business might encounter.

That includes reviewing tender documents before Gammon pitches for new work, assisting project teams when we need to claim extra payment or extensions of time, defending the company against claims arising from health and safety or other regulatory concerns, working with insurance brokers to place insurance and recover losses, and managing the company secretarial functions. We have projects in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau.

My journey into law was a fairly conventional one. I read law at Oxford and did a training contract at Jones Day in London. I stayed at Jones Day for a number of years before moving to Nabarro in 2010. In 2011, I left the UK to work in Nabarro's Singapore office, and in 2018 I moved to Hong Kong to take up a partnership in the Construction Group at HFW. I started my current role in 2023.

As a father of two young boys, I spend a lot of my time outside of work playing with them. They're great fun! I also like to play sport, especially golf, I play the guitar, and I'm learning Mandarin.

As Group General Counsel, what are some of the challenges that keep you up at night? And how do you address them?

Maintaining the health and safety of the workers on our sites is the most challenging and important part of my job. As GC, I have to defend the company if there are any safety issues, so it's crucial that we do whatever we can to make sure those issues don't arise.

After safety, the next most challenging and important part of my job is managing the commercial risks the company takes on. Some employers will try to pass as much of the risk in a construction project as possible to the contractor. Given this, and the low profit margins generated in a competitive environment, construction projects have to be very carefully managed.

What do you think about the use of LegalTech, data analytics and process optimisation to improve your legal department's value?

At Gammon, we're constantly looking for ways to use technology to deliver our work more efficiently, safely, and accurately. That includes the legal team, where we're investing in LegalTech, particularly for legal research, contract reviews for new tenders, and managing claims.

What trends do you expect to see in the legal services industry in the next 5 years?

Good question! Of course, it's very hard to say. But one trend I expect is that the legal services industry will shrink over the next five years as more aspects of it are automated. Whilst generative AI will never replace lawyers, it's likely to mean firms can produce the same work product using fewer resources.

We'll also see more mergers between firms as lawyers look for ways to expand their reach whilst sharing some of the costs. Another phenomenon I expect is the continued rise of Mainland Chinese law firms, and of firms based outside the traditional centres of London and New York.

Where do you see NewLaw/ALSP fitting in the matrix of your legal department?

I'm interested to explore the opportunities NewLaw and ALSPs might offer Gammon, especially when additional resources are needed for only a short space of time. At present, however, we're just exploring and haven't yet started using ALSPs.

What's your favourite tune and why?

Haha! It depends on my mood! One song I love listening to at the moment is "Such a Simple Thing" by Ray LaMontagne.