As I was recently sailing beneath a deep blue sky on a junk in the majestic Hong Kong Harbour, gin and tonic in hand, you may be surprised that I had the law on my mind – specifically, Azimut-Benetti v Healey. A dispute between the parties required the High Court to revisit the classic dichotomy between liquidated damages (LDs) and penalties. The fact that the case involved a contract to buy a rather expensive yacht may make this picture a little more understandable!
A client recently raised this question in the context of a project using the NEC3 ECC. It throws up a number of issues including whether the bank holiday:
To the surprise of the man on the street, relatively low value disputes are difficult to litigate cost effectively. Often the value of the claim is soon exceeded by each party’s legal costs. At the end, when one side comes second, it is presented with a very large bill. Mediation offers the parties a way to avoid this. Continue reading
“This gun for hire” was a 1940’s film-noir starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. It was about a hit man and an entertainer, good cops and bad guys, and revenge. Hardly a film that would immediately make you think about 21st century adjudication, or allow you to draw parallels with the process. However, I think you’d be wrong. Continue reading
