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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MEDIATION – A MANDATORY STEP?
November 2021Earlier this year, on the 25th anniversary of Lord Woolf’s landmark Access to Justice report, the Ministry of Justice issued a call for evidence seeking views from the judiciary, the legal profession, mediators and court users, and anyone who has experience of dispute resolution both within and outside the court system on how mediation can… Read More >
Reports from the courts – November 2021
November 2021Andrew Croft and Ben Spannuth of Beale & Company Solicitors LLP. One judgment reinforces the view that the courts will support ‘the natural and ordinary meaning of the words used’ commercial agreements; and in a Scottish case the judgment warns against ‘contrived or technical defences’ which the courts will ‘examine with a degree of scepticism’.… Read More >
Conflicts, Collusion, Conceptual Confusion: Integri Consultants Limited v Midlothian Council
November 2021Introduction In this case, Integri raised an action against Midlothian Council for payment of sums due under contracts for services. This judgment of the Scottish Court of Session, delivered on 20 October 2021, effectively dealt with an application to strike out part of the Defendant’s case. The Court essentially considered two questions – (1) whether… Read More >
Case Report: BDW Trading Ltd v URS Corporation Ltd and another [2021] EWHC 2796 (TCC)
November 2021In the recent preliminary issues hearing, BDW Trading Ltd v URS Corporation Ltd and another [2021] EWHC 2796 (TCC), the Court applied the test established by the Supreme Court in Khan v Meadows [2021] UKSC 21/Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton [2021] UKSC 20 to conclude that the scope of a structural engineer’s duties extended… Read More >
Omissions, prices and spirit of mutual trust and cooperation: The Van Oord UK Limited v Dragados appeal
November 2021In this article, Andrew Croft and Kevin Henderson review the Scottish appellate court decision in Van Oord UK Limited v Dragados UK Limited[1] which considered when an instruction to omit works and give them to others will amount to breach of contract, how an instruction to omit works is assessed under the NEC, and the… Read More >
The Personal Injuries Guidelines: 6 months later
November 2021Introduction 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?
November 2021The 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
November 2021As 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?
November 2021As 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
November 2021Our 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 >