All articles by Dominic Helps

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    FIDIC standard form: Rock steady ruling

    2014-05-09T06:00:00Z

    A dispute originating in Gibraltar demonstrates how international cases can be brought to London’s TCC to take advantage of its specialist knowledge

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Adjudication costs: Winner takes all

    2014-01-13T11:18:00Z

    New European regulations raise the possibility of adjudication winners being allowed to claim back legal costs from the losing side. But would this contravene the Construction Act?

  • Computer
    Comment

    E-disclosure: A clearer path?

    2013-11-08T06:00:00Z

    As electronic communication and documents become increasingly ubiquitous, procedures around disclosure have to be updated to keep up

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Shepherd vs Pinsent Masons: What a carry on

    2012-02-06T12:08:00Z

    You may hope that a long relationship with a law firm will ensure continuity of service. But if the firm merges or becomes a new legal entity, then watch out for what changes

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Face the music

    2011-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Passing the liability parcel is a favourite party game, but a judgment in the TCC shows how important it is to get the contract right

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Coming back to haunt us

    2010-04-01T00:00:00Z

    Bouygues vs Dahl-Jensen, one of the most controversial adjudication cases ever, has just risen from the dead. And it’s put the willies up a lot of lawyers

  • Dominic Helps
    News

    The Construction Act is changing

    2008-05-20T11:44:00Z

    It’s been a long time coming but now that government has promised primary legislation we could see substantial amendments

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    A sackload of trouble

    2008-04-18T00:00:00Z

    Can a party to an adjudication introduce evidence that wasn’t previously disclosed if it fundamentally alters the original claim? The answer used to be no, but a recent judgment may have reversed this

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    You can’t always get what you want

    2008-02-01T00:00:00Z

     Here’s the story of a PFI scheme that caught fire. And it’s the story of how the parties then strained to construe their contracts in the most favourable way. Some were not successful

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Drop it!

    2007-09-21T00:00:00Z

    Far from complicating adjudications, ditching the requirement for written contracts will simplify the process and increase protection for those who really need it

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    A step too far

    2007-08-31T00:00:00Z

    Extending the Construction Act to embrace oral as well as written agreements is to be applauded. Expanding the definition of ‘agreement’, on the other hand, is definitely not

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Mr Justice Jackson vs Gaymark

    2007-05-11T00:00:00Z

    The issues of extensions of time and liquidated damages are of crucial importance in commercial contracts – hence the importance of the controversial Gaymark principle

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    If at first you don’t succeed ...

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    A lot of firms seem to think that if they lose an adjudication, they can try again with a different adjudicator. Ah, but what happens when they finally win and the other side won’t pay?

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Causing death and saving lives

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    The bill on manslaughter and corporate homicide that is midway through its second reading in parliament must ensure that senior managers can be held personally to account

  • Legal aid panel
    Comment

    Do we have to pay up?

    2006-11-03T00:00:00Z

    LEGAL AID - A contractor has withheld £18k and is claiming a further £60k from the subbie because the project did not meet practical completion. Is there any way to dismiss the claim?

  • Dominic Helps
    Comment

    Harry Houdini is dead

    2006-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Two weeks ago we ran the story of the consultant that got caught up in a legal wrangle over a landslip. The case then proceeded to the Court of Appeal, where it attempted an impossible escape …

  • Dominic Helps
    News

    Behind every green man...

    2006-04-13T11:22:00Z

    Our newly-green blogger is planning some creative ways to reduce his household's carbon footprint - he's going to confiscate his wife's car keys. It begs the question: just how environmentally friendly is marriage counselling?

  • Comment

    It’s down to the developer

    2005-06-10T00:00:00Z

    A half-baked rethink of the law is unlikely to increase project safety. Placing the burden of responsibility at clients’ doorsteps is a much more effective solution

  • Comment

    CDM: An audit

    2005-05-06T00:00:00Z

    The Health and Safety Executive has just recommended changes to the CDM regulations. So the first question we should ask is: will they do any good?

  • Comment

    Pay slip

    2005-02-11T00:00:00Z

    If you are let down by your builders, you probably have an easy remedy: pay them less money. But what happens if you are let down by your architect?