Newsletter
Information for members
July 2007

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Election of Officers

At the last meeting of Council, Nerys Jefford was elected Chairman of the Society and Barry Milton was elected Vice-Chairman. Colin Reese QC and Ronan Champion agreed to continue in their roles as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

In addition, there are three new co-opted members of Council. Helena Brown has been co-opted to help organise the International Conference in October 2008, Paula McKinley has been co-opted to help organise the programme of talks in London, and Richard Bailey has been co-opted to help organise the Junior SCL events. Anthony Albertini has also agreed to join the organising committee for the 2008 International Conference.

The contact details of all the members of Council are on the website.

Programme

Unless marked otherwise, the following meetings are free to members and guests. Location maps are now always available on the website.

All are welcome but for those meetings where the organiser’s telephone or email is given, it would be helpful if you could please let them know of your intention to attend.

Monday, 2 July 6.15pm
“Duties of Care: When and How Much?”
Speaker: Nerys Jefford
Chairman: Professor Anthony Lavers
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London SW1

Thursday, 12 July 6.15pm
Junior SCL Boat Trip on the Thames
Tickets cost just £25 each
See separate item below and booking form attached to this newsletter - and available online.
Numbers are limited and places will be allocated on a first pay basis.

New meeting, please note:

Thursday, 19 July 6.15pm
“Construction Act – consultation update”
Speaker : Paul Smith of the DTI
Panel: Members of the Construction Minister's sounding board including HH Humphrey Lloyd QC, Richard Bayfield, others tbc
Chairman: Nerys Jefford
Venue : The Great Hall, King's College, Strand, London
This meeting is free and there is no need to book

Tuesday, 4 September 6.15pm
“The demand for ethical standards: the construction – and other – professions' responses”
Speaker: Peter Higgins & Philip Britton
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London SW1

Tuesday, 25 September 6.15pm
“Repudiation, termination and quantum meruit”
Speaker: Julian Bailey
Chairman: Martin Green
Venue: Lecture Theatre 118, The Northern Terrace, Civic Quarter, Leeds LS1
Organiser: Jonathan Hawkswell

Tuesday, 2 October 6.15pm
“New suites of construction contracts: The Irish Experience”
Speaker: Tim Bouchier Hayes
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London SW1

Tuesday, 9 October 6.00pm
“JCT Constructing Excellence Contract”
Speaker: Martin Howe
Venue: Hambledon Suite 1, The Rose Bowl, Southampton SO30
Organiser: Marion Harris-Deans

Thursday, 11 October 6.00pm
Speaker: Paul Darling QC (title of talk tbc)
Chairman: Nerys Jefford
Venue: Eversheds LLP, 115, Colmore Rd, Birmingham B3
Organiser: Arul Selvaratnam

Thursday, 11 October 6.15pm
“Construction Act Review”
Speaker: Professor Rudi Klein
Chairman: Jo Rees
Venue: Morgan Cole, Bradley Court, Park Place, Cardiff CF10
Organiser: Alison Short

Tuesday, 30 October 6.15pm
Joint SCL/TECBAR Lecture
Speaker: Lord Justice May
Venue: Inner Temple Parliament Chamber

Thursday, 1 November 5.45pm for 6.00pm
“The new CIC conditions and Scopes of Services- what you need to know”
Speaker: Frances Paterson MBE
Venue: RICS, Manor Place, Edinburgh EH3

Friday, 2 November 12.00 noon
“SCL/CIArb/RICS Conference”
Speakers: Rudi Klein, Keith Pickavance and Nerys Jefford
Chairman: Her Honour Judge Frances Kirkham
Venue: Derby County Football Club, Pride Park Stadium, Pride Park, Derby
Organiser: Jocelyn Taylor

Tuesday, 6 November 6.30pm
Speaker: John Tackaberry QC (talk tbc)
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London SW1

Tuesday, 13 November
“One hundred adjudication appointments later”
Speaker: Tony Bingham
Chairman & venue tbc
Organiser: Jonathan Hawkswell

SCL Hudson Prize 2007

Following the presentation on Tuesday, 1 st May of the prize-winning papers for 2006 by Julian Bailey and Ronan Champion, the Judging Panel is pleased to invite entries for the 2007 Competition from all entrants with an interest in construction law and an idea which they wish to share. The length of essay is a maximum of 5,000 words and the judging panel places emphasis upon originality of thought and approach.

Eligible subjects can be drawn from any part of construction law widely defined, including (but not restricted to) construction and engineering contracts, contract administration, claims, arbitration and dispute resolution, construction litigation, the law of torts, company law, property law, taxation (although this must be related to construction) and any other aspect of law or procedure relevant to the construction industry. First prize is £1,500, second prize is £750. Entrants can also be highly commended or commended. All who are awarded prizes or commendations receive a year's free membership of the Society.

Past winners have included members of almost all the disciplines relating to construction law including barristers, solicitors (including a trainee) quantity surveyors, engineers, academics, architects, and several hybrids qualified in more than one discipline.

Further details of the competition, the closing date for which is 4 th January 2008, can be obtained from the website. Any queries can be referred to me via Jackie Morris in the first instance. Good luck to all entrants.

Anthony Lavers
Chair of the Judging Panel

Opportunities for Sponsorship - SCL International Conference 2008

As previously reported, the Society of Construction Law is delighted to be hosting the 2008 International Construction Law Conference in London. The conference will be held between 5th and 7th October 2008 with a welcoming event on the Sunday evening, a gala dinner on the Monday evening and the President's reception on the Tuesday evening so please make a note in your diaries. 

This event will attract many high profile speakers and SCL members and delegates from around the world. In order to ensure its success the SCL will be making available a limited number of elite sponsorship packages. If any of you would be interested in discussing sponsorship packages for this prestigious event please contact Francis Whitehead at franceswhitehead@scl.org.uk

Centre of Construction Law, King's College London : Thursday, 12 July 2007

An afternoon conference entitled “Adjudication: Intensely practical issues” will be held at the Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus from 1.30pm to 5.30pm. The speakers will be Mr Justice Ramsey QC, HHJ Anthony Thornton QC, Professor Phillip Capper, John Marrin QC, Simon Tolson and Tony Bingham. The event will be Chaired by Nicholas Gould. A discount rate is available for SCL members, see the flyer/booking form enclosed with this newsletter and also on the website.

Please note : The two events must be booked separately but, if you wish to do so, the timings make it perfectly possible to attend the afternoon conference at King's College, then take the 5 minute walk to Temple Pier to go on the Junior Boat Trip! (see below)

Junior Boat Trip on the Thames : Thursday, 12 July 2007

The Junior Committee of the Society of Construction Law in association with MatRICS and King's College Construction Law Association present the third joint Junior organisations' boat trip on the River Thames. A champagne reception will be followed by drinks and a finger buffet as the ‘Golden Jubilee' travels from Temple Pier down river towards Docklands. Tickets cost £25 each. A booking form is enclosed with this newsletter and is available on the website. For any further information, contact Frances Whitehead on 01708 731 476 or email franceswhitehead@scl.org.uk

Booking preference for any of the organised Junior events is always given to those who are registered as Junior Members . If you are under 40 or new to the world of construction law, then you can register as a junior member, which is easy to do, as follows:

Log onto the SCL website www.scl.org.uk using your username and password (if you have forgotten what they are, Admin can help). Click on ‘Members' and then click the 'Junior members' link on the left. You will find an explanation of Junior Membership, and a simple form to register. You do not need to enter your name/details – these are already recognised by the website after you logged in; you only need to confirm your eligibility by giving either your date of birth, or stating that you are junior in your area of expertise.

Advocacy Course 2007

The Society is pleased to announce that it will be holding its Advocacy Training Course again this autumn. It will be run at a location in central London over five evening sessions between 13 th November and 13 th  December. The course is open only to SCL members who are solicitors and will entitle each advocate to claim 12.5 CPD hours. Places are limited and early registration is advised. Enclosed with this newsletter is a flyer giving full details. For further details, contract vicky.lee@dundas-wilson.com

King's College/TCC Survey

Enclosed with this newsletter is a short article, setting out the interim findings of a survey that has been carried out by King's College in association with the Technology and Construction Court.  This survey is looking into the use of mediation, and its actual usage in respect of construction litigation.  This is the first time that the Technology and Construction Court has worked with and assisted a research of this nature.  It therefore provides an invaluable insight into the use of mediation in construction disputes.

The research is only part way through, and will not finally conclude until next summer.  Nonetheless, the attached article sets out some initial findings, which might be of interest.

This research is partly funded by the Society.

Papers

There are a number of excellent papers in the pipeline for publication: some will be printed in hard copy: some will be published on the website only. A reminder that, if you have not already done so, you can opt to have SCL papers emailed to you by accessing your own details on the website and selecting this option, or ask Admin to do it for you.

Ethics

The UK Anti-Corruption Forum has announced details of a conference entitled “Preventing Corruption in Infrastructure” to be held at the ICE in London on Tuesday, 2 October 2007. The programme for the conference, and the registration form, can be found on the Ethics section of the SCL website.

Singapore Conference 2007

The Law Society of Singapore and SCL Singapore will jointly be holding their 3rd Annual Construction Law Conference at the Grand Plaza Park Hotel City Hall on Tuesday, 17 July 2007. The full day Conference will bring together well-known practitioners in construction law and practice for a discussion on recent developments and current issues affecting the construction industry, as well as in-depth sessions on handling technical evidence and workplace health and safety. Preferential rates will be given to SCL members. The brochure giving full details of session times and speakers and the registration form are on the SCL website. For further details contact June Tan at junetan@lawsoc.org.sg

Centre of Construction Law, King's College London
Certificate in Construction Adjudication

New post-experience part-time taught programme: first intake September 2007

• New eight-month (September-April) Certificate programme, for existing and would-be adjudicators and advisers to parties to adjudications – qualified lawyers and construction professionals
• Four taught modules, covering the basic legal principles applicable to construction, the special features of construction law and adjudication procedure
• Includes a mock adjudication and decision-drafting exercises
• Tuition in London on ten to twelve full days each term, mostly Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays – accessible to those outside London
• Academic staff led by Professor Phillip Capper, Nicholas Gould and John Barber, supported by other leading practitioners
• Unique specialist library; online facilities also available to students
• Most teaching shared with the prestigious London MSc in Construction Law & Dispute Resolution: credits can later be used towards the MSc
• Discount on fees for SCL and Adjudication Society members

Applicants must have a degree and/or acceptable professional qualifications, plus significant relevant experience.

For further information, contact Sue Hart on 020 7848 2643 or email susan.hart@kcl.ac.uk or Linda Jones on 020 7848 268 or email linda.jones@kcl.ac.uk

How to register on the website as a member

In order to get members' access to the website you must register online as a member. Registration is easy.

Go to the website homepage www.scl.org.uk click Member Registration (listed below the Member Login box on the right hand side of the homepage) and enter your details and a username and password of your own choosing. Your membership number is also asked for (if you don't know it, then admin can tell you).

Thereafter, you can simply log onto the website using your username and password. When you log in you will see a navigation link to 'Members' which is where you can update your contact details, email subscriptions and data protection information – and where you can choose to have the newsletter emailed to you instead of (or as well as) receiving it by post. This is where you can also search for information about other SCL members who have agreed for their data to be accessible to other members on the website – the total of those who have given permission is now nearly 1,000 members.

The website is constantly being improved.  If you have any questions, problems or suggestions, please contact our webmaster, Edward Peters, at webmaster@scl.org.uk

New Members

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the new members who joined the Society during June:

Andrew Aspell, Reading
Karen Best, London
Michael Bonning, Exeter
David Boorman, Cheadle
James Bowling, London
Warren Bradley, Swindon, Wiltshire
Peter Brooker, London
Tim Chelmick, London
Michael Fitzsimons, Port Louis, Mauritius
Stephanie Foreman, Brisbane, Australia
James Garner, Cape Town, South Africa
Asanga Gunawansa, Singapore
Javad Haddad, Tehran, Iran
Mark Kennor, London
John Little, Winchester
Kieran Lynch, London
Kevin Manley, Dagenham
Simon Metcalf, Southport
Soh Eng Ng, Singapore
Alastair Oxbrough, London
Finola O'Farrell, London
John Porter, London
Birte Ravn, Virum, Denmark
Gary Shadlock, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Campbell Stanford, Auckland, New Zealand
Salah Zoghby, Kuwait

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