All articles by Tony Bingham – Page 15
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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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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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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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CommentA six-year stretch
By the time that Henry Boot vs Alstom reached the Court of Appeal, £60m was hanging on the definition of when the clock starts ticking on the six-year rule …
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CommentGo ask Alice
How can you miss a deadline if you’re a day early? Very easily, if you’re in the Wonderland world of the law, where words mean just what the contract says they do
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CommentWhose side are you on?
It’s taken 20 years to decide whether the project manager under the NEC contract has a duty to be unbiased. Now, thanks to Mr Justice Jackson, we know
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CommentAsking for it
If you lose an adjudication to an opponent in poor financial health, can you decline to pay up? Happily, the courts have just laid down clear rules on this
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CommentWriggle room
A developer tried three arguments to get round an adjudicator’s order to pay its contractor £170k. This is what the court said about them
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CommentThe big squeeze
When the Bechtel boss told his people to do everything they could to disallow contractors’ costs, the contractors went to court. But was this the right move?
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CommentIdeal for multiple injuries
It’s hard to introduce a new defence in the middle of a trial, but in adjudication – being a quick first-aid for two parties in a punch-up – it’s the very opposite
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CommentThe Dickens of a case
Mr Bumble had a point when he said the ‘law is a ass’ – as was borne out recently by a High Court battle that could have been settled with a phone call
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CommentBang out of order
When a dodgy builder was jailed for fleecing customers, he got an ASBO into the bargain. What the dastardly felon also got was a dose of rough justice
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CommentToo much to ask for?
Be warned: there’s an extremely architect-friendly clause hidden in RIBA SFA/99. So friendly, and so hidden, that it has been ruled ‘unusual and onerous’
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Comment28 days later
We all know that the key selling point of adjudication is its 28-day time limit. But that’s no good if the rules don’t agree on when the clock starts ticking
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CommentDevoured by their house
This is how a simple house extension turned into a simple dispute, which turned into a bitter dispute, which turned into a very expensive legal case. And for what?
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CommentA tense situation
Can the party defending an adjudication give new answers after proceedings have begun? Well, it seems that depends on the language used in the question …