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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D&B Contractor suit against Consultant for Cost Overruns in US case
February 2020In the Superior Court of Massachusetts case of Middlesex Corp. v Fay, Spofford & Thorndike Inc. the Court considered a Consultant’s liability for costs allegedly attributed to errors in preliminary designs and cost/quantity estimates. Claims by Design and Build contractors against their consultants remain commonplace in the UK and, whilst a US decision, this case… Read More >
Hedging your bets
February 2020The long running and much publicised dispute between Mr and Mrs Burgess and their neighbourly architect, Mrs Lejonvarn, has been the subject of numerous court hearings and applications. This dispute has finally drawn to a close with a recent Court of Appeal decision where indemnity costs were awarded to Mrs Lejonvarn. In this article we… Read More >
Beale & Co advises NIRAS on acquisition of food and drink specialist
February 2020Beale & Co has advised NIRAS on the acquisition of Integrated Food Projects, which provides independent advice to food and drink businesses. The acquisition strengthens NIRAS’s position within the UK and international food and beverage sector and enables them to provide a full range of consulting and engineering services to the industry. To read the… Read More >
Singapore Mediation Convention and its impact on the region
February 2020The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation, or the Singapore Convention on Mediation (the “Convention”) applies to international settlement agreements which result from mediation. The Convention was adopted in December 2018 and then subsequently signed by 46 states in August 2019. Notably it has not been signed by the UK and… Read More >
Recovery of monies following Cyber Fraud
February 2020The criminal cyber world is fast-paced and does not wait for antiquated legal processes to catch-up. The increasing cybercrime statistics on nearly every metric are frightening. Recently, the English Courts have adopted a creative approach in order to assist victims and their insurers in recovering monies from cyber criminals. In this article, we discuss recent… Read More >
Do not fall into the Pitfall of Poor Contract Drafting
February 2020We are seeing an increase in disputes arising out of poorly drafted contract provisions that offer multiple interpretations, leaving those tasked with applying and/or interpreting such provisions guessing as to what the parties originally intended. In this article Antony Smith and Sadaff Habib remind us how costly simple drafting mistakes can be and the issues… Read More >
Reports from the Courts – January/February
January 2020In our round up of cases of most interest to construction Andrew Croft and Benjamin Spannuth report on a decision that confirms the importance of expressly including an Act-compliant payment mechanism and an express right to suspend in the event of non-payment in every ‘hybrid’ contract; and another that warns replacement contractors not to be… Read More >
Adjudication: Show me the money…!
January 2020Since the introduction of statutory adjudication in Ireland by the Construction Contracts Act 2013 (CCA), it has been possible to refer payment disputes under construction contracts to adjudication for resolution. Following a slow start in 2016 after the enactment of the CCA, the use of adjudication has recently shown a marked rise in frequency. In… Read More >
Japanese Knotweed – Not such a knotty problem?
January 2020In recent years, Japanese Knotweed has become the ‘villain’ of the horticultural world, feared by property owners and mortgage lenders. However, a UK government report published in May 2019 suggests that Japanese Knotweed may not be as big a problem as previously thought. In this article we consider the problematic nature of the plant, the… Read More >
Late payment update – new bill in Parliament
January 2020Yesterday saw the introduction of a new Private Members’ bill to tighten up existing late payment legislation, the first attempt to address late payment issues since the disappointing failure of the Aldous Bill last year. In this note, James Vernon and Sophie Bryant discuss some of the key details of the new bill. To read… Read More >