Karen Gough practises internationally as counsel, attorney-at-law, arbitrator, adjudicator and ADR neutral. She has specialised, for more than 35 years, in complex construction, engineering, professional negligence and general commercial disputes whether resolved by litigation, arbitration, adjudication or other forms of ADR.

Karen has appeared before the Courts of England and Wales at all levels including the Privy Council. She is dual qualified as a practising attorney in the Caribbean, a Chartered Arbitrator, a Certified International ADR Practitioner (FAiADR). She is widely recognised as an expert in the resolution of disputes under the FIDIC and NEC forms of contract and acted as a friendly reviewer of the FIDIC 2017 SFCs and is a member of the working group to produce FIDIC Practice Note(s) as part of FIDIC's Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Forum.

Karen has a strong arbitration practice as counsel and as arbitrator (since 1990) and has conducted as counsel or been appointed as sole, co-arbitrator or chairman/presiding arbitrator in cases conducted under many different institutional rules including LCIA, ICC, SIAC, DIAC and the PCA in the Hague. She also acts as adjudicator/dispute board/conflict avoidance panel member.

Karen represents a wide range of clients including governments, government agencies, local authorities, educational institutions, contractors, sub-contractors, and major commercial organisations. Her construction practice includes disputes under bespoke contracts and many SFCs including JCT, NEC and FIDIC, concerning private domestic and commercial industrial and retail developments, major public works and infrastructure projects including energy facilities, involving claims for payment, extensions of time, delay and disruption, termination disputes and other specialist disputes involving complex M&E and building management systems, ground conditions, cladding and roofing projects. Her professional liability and regulation practice concerns claims and disciplinary proceedings against construction professionals. She also acts for clients in commercial and in insolvency related disputes and is a past chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Insolvency Licensing Committee.

Karen is a past global President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is an expert advisor on construction, ADR and arbitration matters to the AIAC (Malaysia), IWHAAM (Bahamas), and JAIAC (Jamaica), a member of the International Statutory Adjudication Forum of Experts ("ISAF"), a member of the ICC UK Arbitration & ADR Committee, a Co-Chair of the ICPC of the IPBA, the immediate past Vice Chairman of the SCL UK, and a teaching fellow at the College of Law in Australia. She is also frequently invited to speak at international conferences and on construction and arbitration/ADR matters and regularly contributes articles to publications on these subjects. 

She is described in Chambers UK as being "Just the person you want if the battle is going to be hot"  in construction claims, and having "immense arbitral experience", and by Legal 500 as "outstanding in her detailed and analytical grasp of her field and fearless in her protection of the client".

Karen was shortlisted for The Legal 500 UK Awards 'International Arbitration Junior of the Year' in both 2018 and 2020 and 'Construction Junior of the Year' in 2019.