Legal views – Page 103
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CommentCertifiable adjudicators
Like the umpires in last month’s ill-fated test match, adjudicators test the dispute against the rules and make a judgment – unfortunately some construction folk, and one or two lawyers, haven’t quite grasped that they can’t tamper with the ball either …
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CommentDont touch that dial
It’s tough being an arbitrator. You’re expected to have expert skills in your field and be able to shoulder a weighty judicial burden. And one wrong move, such as making a simple phone call, will get you thrown off the job …
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CommentThe way the money goes
The insistence that a contract be ‘in writing’ before it can be adjudicated is transferring millions of pounds from one industry to another. Guess which ones they are …
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CommentThe pitfalls of DIY
Hanging the odd picture up is one thing, but once you’re into serious DIY you’re bound by the same standards as a professional builder. So if something bad happens on your property, you can end up paying damages, costs and even other defendants’ costs. Nasty
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CommentBlood on the tracks
Last year the criminal court fined Balfour Beatty £10m after it pleaded guilty to its part in the Hatfield rail disaster. Then last month the Court of Appeal lopped £2.5m off the penalty. Here’s why …
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CommentThe killer blow
The slide of Botes Building into administration has been widely reported. What isn’t so well known is that in the run up it was involved in a £300k legal battle with one of its clients …
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CommentJust call me Rambo
When did mediation get taken over by tree-huggers who refuse to discuss the merits of the case? Well, no more. If it stops daft cases ending up in court, then mediators should be free to take a more aggressive approach
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CommentThe perils of using your initiative
Imagine you’re a builder carrying out a small domestic project, and you spot a mistake in the architect’s design. Would you save everyone’s time and trouble by working out an ad hoc solution to it?
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CommentTrump that!
Everyone knows that a final certificate trumps an interim one – that’s the way a client ensures it pays the correct sum. But when an adjudicator is parachuted in to decide the interim account, that situation is reversed – as Camden council was surprised to discover
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CommentStop right there
The Wembley judgment contains all the rough and tumble we expect from a good old construction dust-up, and some pertinent lessons for the 2012 Olympics organisers
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CommentThe correct use of courts
The legal system would work a lot better if it were used as a last chance to settle disputes, rather than a blunt instrument to beat, baffle and bore one's enemy into submission
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CommentYou'll do …
The subbie that designed and built some duff football pitches in Scotland wisely went out of business before it could be sued. But what about the architect?
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CommentYou be the judge
TCC judges have ventured into new territory with the launch of a mediation service. So will we make good mediators? That's for you to decide
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CommentSuburban concerns
Housebuilders in the South-east may think home owners who are selling their gardens in the deal have no worries. But they are overlooking the impact of capital gains tax
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CommentStop right there
Imagine a world where it's possible to spot disputes before they happen. Impossible? Not if you believe in FIDIC's new superhuman dispute boards
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CommentTax and spend
The public doesn't really know what a section 106 agreement is. If it did there'd be trouble, especially now it is used for all manner of community largesse
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CommentWas Ellis right on Wallis?
The Wallis adjudication turned on whether expert evidence was relevant, and whether there was time to investigate it within the 28 day limit. This is how it went
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CommentThe pursuit of truth
Why has a tiny dispute about windows ended up at the Appeal Court? Because one party had a major allegation - that key facts were witheld at the first trial
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CommentJudging the judges
There's no doubt that as decision-makers TCC judges are a class act, but will that make them good mediators? The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators thinks not
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CommentWhat have you got?
Whether it's litigation, arbitration or adjudication, it would all run much more smoothly if everyone showed their hand right from the start