All articles by Ann Minogue
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Comment2016: Reading the runes
2015 was harder to call than most thought. And with the looming possibility of Brexit, the new National Infrastructure Commission and the ongoing skills shortage, 2016 looks just as tricky
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CommentNot guilty!
Recent columns have been on how legal wrangling can mangle the procurement process. But is it really the lawyers at fault?
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CommentJCT MPCC: Major projects, minor details
The JCT Major Project Construction Contract is now widely recognised. But confusion over some of its provisions has come to light
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CommentContracts: Handle with care
In an industry which is notoriously casual about contractual procedure, firms must make sure they are ticking all of the correct boxes, especially when dealing in foreign markets
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CommentConstruction law predictions: Fortune telling
Last year’s assertions on third party rights showed exactly why legal forecasts are best left well alone. But here are a couple for 2015
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CommentRupert Choat picks '2014 predictions: Wishful thinking'
Looking back at those 2014 predictions of Ann Minogue: Summer’s musings
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CommentA New York story
New York City has taken a tough line with construction firms that are involved in illegal activity. After looking at the case of Structure Tone, you wonder how long it will be before we take similar action here
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Comment2014 predictions: Wishful thinking
Ann Minogue offers some hopes and predictions for 2014, and has a bone to pick with the construction industry’s fairy godmother …
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CommentThe benefit of experience
Age may not lead to wisdom, but looking back at her days as a junior solicitor Ann Minogue finds that she now has some of the answers to the things she did not understand back then
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CommentThe remains of the day
With tentative signs of improvement at last for the construction industry, it’s time to look at what has happened to the legal and commercial world since the crash of 2007
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CommentLeap of faith
Despite what the Court of Appeal decided recently, isn’t a doctrine of good faith what the industry desperately needs?
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Comment10 wishes for 2013
As a new year begins and pantomime season draws to an end it’s time for us to put an order in to construction’s fairy godmother …
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CommentDesign and build contracts: Confusion guaranteed
We have got used to thinking that there is an implied fitness for purpose warranty in a design and build contract. But a recent case has muddied the waters
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CommentNew CIOB contract: Testing terms
Is the CIOB Complex Projects Contract a bit too, well, complex? It will be interesting to hear what clients and contractors think …
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CommentThe practices of funders' lawyers in 2011
Funders’ lawyers are imposing onerous terms on contractors, passing them off as ‘market standard’. Here’s the kind of shenanigans they got up to last year
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CommentThe trouble with letters of intent and the law
Here’s a case where a ‘side letter’ was relied upon to clarify the key terms under negotiation. The problem is that such documents may not be deemed legally enforceable
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CommentDodgy payment practices: Save us from ourselves
Journalism isn’t the only sector guilty of abuses. Construction’s own dodgy payment practices are legendary - but to be rid of them it will have to fall back on its own resources
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CommentNovation: Let's innovate
A client novates its design team in order to offload risk to the contractor, but in doing so it also loses access to consultants who can offer vital advice. So what’s the alternative?
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CommentCan we be of any assistance?
Like it or not, lawyers are tending to intrude into the adjudication process. Perhaps the industry should stop resisting and treat them as a guiding hand
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CommentThe big law society
Ann Minogue The more disputes are settled in adjudication, the more likely it is that areas outside our industry will have a bearing on how construction law develops