Grammar of buildings

Manama : Paula Boast was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She went to College of Law in Guildford and was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of England and Wales in 2002. Paula became a construction lawyer by accident. 

Paula, a lawyer for 14 years, is now a Partner in an International Law firm, Head of Construction Engineering and Projects for the MENA region, Vice Chair of the Bahrain British Business Forum and she runs the Bahrain Chapter of the Society of Construction Law Gulf.

Paula has worked on projects that include Shangri-La Oman, Bahrain National Assembly, Durrat Al Bahrain, Doha Convention Centre, Four Seasons Hotel, Riffa Views, Diyar Al Muharraq, Bahrain Airport, King Abdullah Medical City, Education City Doha, Lusail Doha, Investment Gateway Bahrain and Reef Island. 

Paula also assisted the Bahrain Ministry of Works in the drafting and publication to market of its first ever Standard Suite of Construction Contracts (2009 Edition) based on FIDIC forms.

Commercial approach 

Paula Boast highlighted the importance of understanding clients and building their projects all in the context of her experience working in the MENA region.

She said: “It is incredibly important to be able to understand the nature of the client’s business. This can be diverse particularly in the Middle East where I act for a wide variety of clients across different sectors. So each of their businesses is different.”

“Day to day I draft contracts, advise on key problems and issues arising in the GCC market which impact on projects, and support clients as they move through their project cycle. In terms of my strengths anyone who works with me will know that I adopt a pragmatic and commercial approach,” she explained. “That approach is designed to ultimately provide solutions to project problems. I enjoy the commerciality of my job. The construction industry is a very commercial one even from a legal perspective.”

“The other important aspect of my work is that we are in the business of building projects. I am proud to be involved in it because it’s crucial to the overall economic, social and political development of the Middle East region,” she remarked. 

Female construction lawyer 

As a construction lawyer, Paula shared her insight as a woman. “As a lawyer you work your way up the ranks from being a junior lawyer to an associate and then to partner level. From partner level the next responsibility is being head of your country or region for your specific practice. It takes many years to progress,” she said.

“The work is hard but it is fun and challenging along the way. You have to be driven and to be ambitious. It is not the right path for everyone. Part of my job is to create profile for my firm in the region and to embed ourselves as part of the business community that we service,” Paula elaborated. “In doing that I became Vice Chair of the BBBF. I served on the Committee for a number of years.”

“I work closely with our Chairman Khalid Al Zayani. The Society of Construction Law Gulf was an extension of my role with the SCL Council in the UK. It is important within the business community to promote education and training. That is what the SCL Gulf strives to do across the region,” she said.

When asked about her best strategy, pat comes the reply: “Breathe and smile.” “Developing a network of contacts and intermediaries. Make friends with everyone in your line of work. Figure out who the key players are. Work on building your reputation with those people and their organisations,” Paula commented.  

She gives the message that “take steps to get positively embedded – embedded in your project team – embedded in your business community – we all have a valuable role to play.”        

Speaking about her future plans, Paula said, “Currently, my work includes projects in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and KSA. My plan for the future is to drive for more of the same.”