All articles by Tony Bingham – Page 19
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Miss Mediation
Is it ever permissable to bypass mediation and go straight to court? The answer is yes. A useful guide as to when emerged out of a recent appeal court case
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CommentStep right in
By not taking extra time to decide the case, an adjudicator led the parties straight to the courtroom door – where they were greeted by a welcoming judge
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CommentUp the workers
This is another everyday story of self-employment and rights and conditions at work. Redrow thought it had a contract and that was it. Wrong, wrong wrong!
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CommentPicking the ponies
The people who hire adjudicators want intelligent, nimble beasts that cover the ground at a gallop while safely leaping legal hurdles. But how can they get them?
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CommentBlood and treasure
Firms who took part in the foot-and-mouth massacre were treated like pirates when they presented their bill. This is how they eventually got their gold
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CommentInnocence and experience
If an adjudicator sees something they shouldn't, is there any way that they can escape a charge of bias? Here's how one adjudicator tackled the problem
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CommentLeave the act alone
The plan, announced in the Budget, to set up the CIPER forum is deeply troubling. It will be a kind of secret society, and it will want to change the Construction Act
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CommentMan bites dog
With the scent of unpaid levy in its nostrils, the CITB can be a bit of a rottweiler. Perhaps it needs to change its image and pay more attention to its product?
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Pinned and needled
A client's attempts to wriggle out of adjudication on three tricky points of law were quashed by one very clever adjudicator – and he wasn't even a lawyer
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CommentGet Shorty
Disciplinary boards often resemble something between a kangaroo court and a lynch mob – as a former cabinet minister may be about to discover
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CommentA misjudgment
The parties in Tally Wiejl vs Pegram became utterly confused by the problem of which contract was in place. Now this question has foxed the Court of Appeal, too
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A salty tale
If two parties to a dispute give different accounts of what happened, courts look for something on paper. Trouble is, documents can be too persuasive
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CommentThe silent service
Adjudicators aren't private eyes – or inquiry judges – looking into every detail of a case. They're paid just to assess the arguments … then keep their mouths shut
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CommentStakes and ladders
If you skip a square at the very beginning of an adjudication you may find that at the end of it – when there's most to lose – you have to start all over again
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CommentPerformance driven
They're nice little runners – quick, reliable, easy to handle … But the only way to be sure adjudicators are roadworthy is to put them through their MOT
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CommentGripping stuff
Professional negligence claims can be damned difficult, so is it asking too much to create a breed of adjudicators capable of grasping the issues?
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CommentShadows and doubt
An adjudicator's decision can be thrown out over the merest hint of unfairness. Good news for the system's integrity, bad news for parties left in limbo
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CommentNo job for Superman
Any adjudicator who comes to a dispute too convinced of their own expertise may not be able to judge the case in an open-minded, impartial way
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Doing the twist
Judges don't like it when a party plays fast and loose with the adjudication process, shifting ground opportunistically or otherwise giving itself wriggle room