Articles
Our lawyers contribute regularly to industry and legal journals in addition to writing legal briefings, newsletters and case reports for clients and contacts. All of our articles are free to read and download here.
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The Personal Injuries Guidelines: 6 months later
Introduction It is now over 6 months since the Personal Injuries Guidelines (“the Guidelines”) were commenced on 24 April 2021. The commencement of the Guidelines marked the culmination of a multi-year process of review, debate, consultation, and consideration as to the best and most appropriate means by which to seek to reduce and regularise… Read More >
Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting – Has the Balance Toppled?
The Supreme Court’s decision in Ho (Respondent) v Adelekun (Appellant) [2021] UKSC 43 overturns the earlier Court of Appeal decision, along with the decision in Howe v MIB [2017] EWCA Civ 932. It is now clear that where the Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting (QOCS) scheme applies to a claim, a defendant is unable to recover costs awarded in… Read More >
The Chancery Lane Project – Further insurance climate clauses published to help sector transition to net zero
As a firm we are proud to be part of the TCLP community which is a pro bono initiative that brings legal professionals together to collaborate and rewrite contracts to support communities and businesses in fighting the climate crisis and achieving net zero carbon emissions. To coincide with COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference,… Read More >
Autumn Budget 2021: What does it mean for cladding remediation?
As we reported previously in our article here, the UK Government will be introducing a Residential Property Developer Tax in 2022. This tax will be used to partly fund the Government’s £5.1bn Building Safety Fund for cladding remediation costs borne by leaseholders in high-rise buildings over 18 metres. In the Autumn Budget 2021 announcement, Chancellor… Read More >
Reports from the Courts – November 2021
Our latest round up of court cases of most interest to construction comes from Andrew Croft and Ben Spannuth. One judgment reinforces the view that the courts will support ‘the natural and ordinary meaning of the words used’ in commercial agreements; and in a Scottish case the judgment warns against ‘contrived or technical defences’ which… Read More >
Construction Products Post-Brexit and Grenfell: Are you UKCA (and GSR) ready?
Introduction Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the regulation of construction products has attracted unprecedented levels of scrutiny and the Government has come under pressure to raise safety requirements. The use of controversial Aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on the tower was a major contributor to the disaster. It had nonetheless been a lawful material at… Read More >
Putting you on hold: Vodafone v. SoS for Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Introduction This judgment of the High Court, which was handed down on 20 October 2021, arose from the award of a government contract for the provision of secure communication services by the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (“FCDO”) and the British Council. Vodafone was the incumbent provider of the network, which is known as… Read More >
THE ROADMAP TO 2030; SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE IN INFRASTRUCTURE
Last month the UK’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) published the Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP): Roadmap to 2030 (the “Roadmap”) which outlines the government’s vision to drive change, innovation and sustainability in the built environment, alongside the commitment to investing £650bn in the sector over the next decade. The Roadmap includes a Built Environment Model… Read More >
CLC COVID-19 Task Force – Contractual Best Practice Guidance Update October 2021
On 21st October 2021, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) COVID-19 Task Force published updates to their government supported COVID-19 Contractual Best Practice Guidance. This latest publication updates the existing suite of guidance, along with publishing five new pieces of guidance: CLC COVID-19 Impact Assessment Toolkit; NEC and CLC Guidance for Dealing with the Effects of… Read More >
Smith V Cunningham & Ors – solicitors can breath a sigh of relief!
In one of the most important decisions for a number of years before the Irish Courts for those involved in professional negligence claims, The Court of Appeal gave judgement yesterday (20 October 2021) in Smith v Cunningham which gives clarity to the application of the statute of limitations in proceedings involving solicitors and other professionals… Read More >