Articles

Welcome to all members to our first Newsletter 0f 2002.

I am very grateful to this month’s contributors for a wide range of views. We start the Year 2002 with a big bang –a wide range of commentaries on the adjudication process.

This is a response by Peter Morton to Chris Dancaster’s recent talk in Bristol:

Hole searching is a popular pastime with lawyers, particularly over the Christmas Season when there is little else to do. Frustration with mothers-in-law and mince pies builds to such an extent that release has to be found.

There is no one answer to many of the questions which I am asked in my professional life. The question which Len has asked me – should adjudicators give reasons for their decisions – is no exception.

The provision of reasons by an adjudicator has a number of disadvantages:

In this our final newsletter of 2001. We again have some excellent contributions from colleagues round the UK and we run our first effort at addressing practical issues. We have excellent articles from Chris Dancaster and John Rushton on Adjudicators Decisions.

Chris Dancaster FRICS DipICArb FCIArb tackles the complex area of Adjudicators Decision Writing :

LB What is the most important thing in your view about the Decision?

Chris Richards kindly responded to my request to pose some real live questions to adjudicators. Do you have any comments ? – should the adjudicator have done something different ?

We are looking for further contributions of this nature.

First may I thank many members for their kind comments about the recent Newsletters………”stimulating, pithy, interesting, filled a need in the market to have forum for exchange of views” – are just a few recent remarks from our members..

This month I am pleased to present to you two opposing views – Janey Milligan discuss the ‘Adjudicators Perspective’ and Alan MacAleer gives his views on adjudication as a technical adviser to the parties. Ladies first, so I will start with Janey :

I note with interest the recent contributions regarding adjudicator's fees and conditions.

The recent proposals from the DTI to amend the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act contain an amendment to outlaw the practice (affirmed by the Bridgeway v Tolent case) whereby one party inserted into the contract arrangements a clause making the party which referred a dispute to ad

I decided to give my Interview Spot a rest this month and instead have put together a Comments Section.

I decided to give my Interview Spot a rest this month and instead have put together a Comments Section.

When I started to put together this Newsletter No 8 I thought I would be struggling for copy BUT you will see there is plenty to read!

This month’s guest on the spot is Scottish Solicitor, Lindy Patterson, Head of the Construction Unit in Macroberts, Solicitors. Lindy has been heavily involved in construction disputes and her firm has acted for adjudicators and for parties in many adjudications.

John Redmond of Osborne Clark, Solicitors, has produced an excellent guide "Adjudication in Construction Contracts".

In my role as editor of the Adjudication Society Newsletter I am keen to encourage our members to contribute regularly to a dialogue on many issues relating to the adjudication process.

Periodically we will review recent text books on adjudication and other related dispute resolution strategies. In this issue I am pleased to provide a short review of the latest addition to the books on adjudication.

My first guest is Guy Cottam, who I don’t think he needs too much of an introduction, one of the construction/engineering industries most experienced dispute resolution practitioners: