Ken Hickman's practice is focused on large-scale construction, infrastructure, mining, energy, and transport projects. He has acted for owners and contractors in Australia and Southeast Asia in arbitration proceedings (ICC, SIAC, LMAA, SCMA), litigation, mediation, and expert determination. Ken is also engaged by clients prior to initiating formal legal proceedings to investigate and minimize claims and disputes, and he has significant experience in Australia acting for owners and contractors in high-value adjudications under various security of payment legislation throughout Australia.
Ken has particular experience running complex and high-value construction-related litigation and international commercial arbitrations seated around the world under various institutional rules. Ken's recent experience includes acting for a Spanish contractor on a $1.5 billion arbitration arising from the Roy Hill Project and acting for a South African mining services contractor in a $300 million dispute in the NSW Supreme Court.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Ken worked for international law firms in Melbourne and Singapore, where he advised clients on construction and transport infrastructure projects; ship construction disputes; offshore construction projects (chartering for subsea/heavy lift vessels); energy and mining projects; procurement contracts; shipping (charterparty and bill of lading disputes); and commodities trading disputes and investigations.
In addition, Ken has diverse experience across multiple industry and government sectors having served previous secondments with an ASX-listed mining services company and a statutory authority delivering a multibillion dollar transport project in Victoria. He also worked with the Regional Rail Link Authority in Victoria during the procurement phase on a $4.3 billion rail infrastructure project.
Experience
- La Trobe University (LL.M. in Global Business Law 2011; LL.B. Hons. 2007; B.A. in Mandarin 2007)
- Supreme Court of Victoria, Supreme Court of Western Australia, and High Court of Australia
Best Lawyers in Australia — recognized in International Arbitration (2022-2023)
Doyle's Guide — recommended construction lawyer in Western Australia (2019, 2020, 2021)
Guest lecturer on international commercial arbitration at the University of Western Australia and Singapore Management University
Member of an arbitration team recognized by Global Arbitration Review as one of the leading international arbitration law firms in the 2020 edition of the GAR 30