Wembley stadium case given July 2011 deadline

The judge presiding over the £253m Brookfield claim against Mott MacDonald over Wembley stadium has announced the case must be completed by the end of July 2011.

In a case management conference, heard today at the Technology and Construction Court, Mr Justice Coulson said that the whole of 2011 would be set aside for the case. He said it would begin in January and that closing submissions would have to be finished by the end of July.

Mr Justice Coulson will then use the following term to write up his judgement. He said: “This time in two years I would hope that at the very latest both of you will have done your submissions in reply.”

He also issued a warning to both sides to make sure time was not wasted and the “nuts and bolts” of the case were addressed in the time allocated. “I will be more than enthusiastic to write my judgement first time round,” he said. “I don't want to have to be working on this case again in 2013.”

Brookfield, formerly known as Multiplex, filed its claim in December last year claiming £253m in damages from Mott for failing to warn it of design changes and providing “late and inadequate” information. Wembley was completed two years late and up to £300m over budget.

Mott filed its defence earlier this month, calling Brookfield's case “embarrassing and lacking in any proper particulars,” and launching a £230,000 counter-claim of its own.