All Legal articles – Page 173
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Comment
Handled with care
A new accreditation scheme is offering training and indemnity insurance to construction professionals taking on the vital role of asbestos inspectors
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Comment
On being naughty
Is this a cautionary tale of an innocent subcontractor hounded by the big bad tax man? Or was its ‘minor and technical’ infraction actually something more?
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Comment
Cut to the quick
Continuing from last week: you may not have time to examine every line in a contract, so here are key clauses you need to spot and the potential traps to avoid
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CommentStory time is over
It’s time to stop the lying in adjudication and arbitration. Let’s attach a ‘statement of truth’ to referral or response papers, and make clients and lawyers sign it
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Comment
Smile, you’re on camera
Delay and disruption disputes are horrendously complicated, but there is a practical way to back up your claim – take regular photographs of the works from day one
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Comment
Before you sign …
Ideally lawyers will go through a contract with a fine-tooth comb, but if you only have a couple of hours to check it yourself, here are the key points to watch for
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CommentBattle tactics
For subcontractors the day when crippling paid-if-paid clauses are outlawed cannot come too soon, but in the meantime here’s how to launch an effective counter-attack
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CommentA family affair
The man who defrauded the Millennium Dome of £4m has just been sent down, but suspicions were first aroused in a little-known adjudication case back in 2001
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CommentWar of the words
A letter of intent is meant to be a stop-gap before the contract kicks in, but all too often it sparks a dispute – in this case over the words ‘loss and expense’
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Comment
A tragedy, not a crime
The Hatfield defendants were innocent, and would have been under a reformed law. If you want a villain in this piece, look at past and present governments
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Comment
Spoilt for choice
At last we have a contract that caters for third-party rights, but this extra option in the new JCT design-and-build contract could pose a problem
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CommentA happy compromise
A trial before a judge or arbitrator is one thing; negotiations facilitated by a mediator is a horse of a different colour. So what would happen if we crossed them?
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Comment
How to haggle
At last, premiums for professional indemnity insurance have started to fall, so now is the time to find a broker and shop around for a better deal
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CommentAll too human
Arbitrators, adjudicators, even judges, all have unconscious bias. You can’t change that – but you can make sure that you don’t help them to direct it against you
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CommentOffensive manoeuvres
A decision reached by an adjudicator can be overturned in court, one reached by an arbitrator cannot – unless the claimant establishes that he is incompetent
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CommentMy slip, your fall
The NEC Third Edition has been hailed as a friendly partnering contract, but one particular clause seems to tip the balance against contractors
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CommentA wardance
The ordinary way that contracts are entered into provides a natural breeding ground for disputes, as vividly demonstrated by this recent Appeal Court case
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CommentIt’s … Robo-adjudicator!
Dispute resolution is no job for have-a-go amateurs. So five chartered bodies have teamed up to turn adjudicators into contract law enforcement machines
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CommentFractal law
As with the coastline of England or the Mandlebrot Set, the closer you look at standard forms of contract, the more complexity you find. Take this example …
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News
Lords committee backs Bolkestein directive
A House of Lords report has backed the controversial European Union services directive. The construction industry had lobbied against the directive on the grounds that it threatened working conditions.The Lords’ committee on the European single market has issued a report backing the proposal, commonly known as the Bolkestein directive, which ...