REUTERS | Mike Segar
December 11, 2012

E-mail arrangements over Christmas and the new year

Frosty the Snowman:

“Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
and two eyes made out of coal.”

Following business as usual this week, PLC Construction will send its last e-mail of 2012 next week, to arrive in your inbox on Thursday 20 December 2012. We are then taking a break until the new year.

The first e-mail of 2013 will be sent to arrive in your inbox on Thursday 3 January 2013. This e-mail will include reports of all developments since 20 December 2012.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

REUTERS | Ina Fassbender
December 5, 2012

Keeping the lights on?

While most of us were caught up in the wall-to-wall coverage of the Leveson report last Thursday, other significant announcements were being made in Westminster.

The Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, made a statement on the publication of the Energy Bill 2012, which is the product of months of industry-wide dialogue and debate on how we can keep the lights on while ensuring a low-carbon economy. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Alex Domanski
December 4, 2012

Adjudicator can’t change his mind in his later decision

Back in September, I wrote about set-off against an adjudicator’s decision following two TCC judgments: Squibb Group v Vertase FLI Ltd and Beck Interiors v Classic.

It seems the parties in the first case are still arguing over time and money, and have been back before the court (Vertase FLI Ltd v Squibb Group). This time the question for Edwards-Stuart J to address was whether the adjudicator decided the same issue in the second adjudication as he’d decided in the first adjudication. If he had, he’d lack jurisdiction and his decision would be unenforceable. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Ina Fassbender
November 30, 2012

November 2012 digest: adjudicators’ fees and severing their decisions

William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence:

“There was a roaring in the wind all night, the rain came heavily and fell in floods, but now the sun is rising, calm and bright.”

Our monthly digest often starts with a weather-related quote, and this month is no exception, what with all the rain and flooding that the country has recently experienced. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Amit Dave
November 28, 2012

Compromise agreement should be clear and comprehensive

In Jacobs UK Ltd v Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, Coulson J was asked to consider the meaning of an agreement that had been reached between Jacobs and SOM compromising their previous round of litigation.

The case is a salutary warning of the need to ensure that the terms of any such agreement are clear and comprehensive, lest another round of litigation should follow. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Lisi Niesner
November 27, 2012

Liability for adjudicators’ fees, a postscript

In the month since Lord Dyson’s judgment in PC Harrington v Systech was published, and I wrote a blog about it, there has been one subject on the lips of most adjudicators and those involved in adjudication (and it isn’t West Brom holding on to a Champion’s League place in the Premiership). Instead, it is the issue of a party’s liability for the adjudicator’s fees when he produces an unenforceable decision.

Continue reading →

REUTERS | Ahmad Masood
November 20, 2012

A roundabout route to arbitration

Since the Arbitration Act 1996 came into force, the courts have upheld arbitration clauses agreed between the parties in precedence to litigation commenced by one of them. If a contract contains an arbitration clause, then parallel proceedings will be stayed on either party’s application, even if the dispute is of a flimsy nature.

However, the court must first be persuaded that there is a genuine arbitration clause and this issue arose in Turville Heath v Chartis Insurance, decided by Edwards-Stuart J in the TCC earlier this month. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Mike Blake
November 20, 2012

“Shaken and stirred” when a criminal prosecution follows an earthquake

The tragic earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, followed a number of minor tremors and not only shook the population of the historic town, killing 308 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless, but also sent shock waves through the scientific and engineering communities both in Italy and worldwide, stirring much indignation among them.

Why? Four seismologists, two engineers (members of the Italian National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks) and a public official have been convicted of manslaughter (culpable homicide) and sentenced to six years in jail for failing to properly assess and communicate the risk of the earthquake. It’s said they painted an overly optimistic picture that reassured the local population leading them to return home and remain in their houses. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Fabrizio Bensch
November 20, 2012

Severing an adjudicator’s decision Cato-style

Akenhead J first suggested the possibility of severing an adjudicator’s decision in Cantillon v Urvasco back in 2008. However, while severance was also discussed by the TCC later that year in Quartzelec v Honeywell Control Systems, it wasn’t until earlier this year in Working Environments v Greencoat Construction that an adjudicator’s decision was actually severed. Since then, severance has rather taken off, and the latest offering is in Lidl UK GmbH v R G Carter.

Continue reading →