Newsletter
Information for members
August 2007

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Frances Paterson MBE

Frances Paterson has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday honours list for her services to the construction industry. Frances has been a tremendous supporter of the Society for many years. She is past Chair (1995-1996) and past President (1993-1995). In addition,  Frances currently undertakes the huge task of editing the Society's papers. 

Council wish to congratulate her and thank her for her many years of support.

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.

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

Wednesday, 3 October 6.00pm
“NEC Programme”
Speaker: Keith Pickavance
Chairman: Simon Goss
Venue: Bristol University, The Hawthorns, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8
Organiser: Simon Goss

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

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

SCL Hudson Prize 2007

Entries are now invited 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 4th January 2008, can be obtained from the website. Any queries can be referred to me via Jackie Morris in the first instance at admin@scl.org.uk. Good luck to all entrants.

Anthony Lavers
Chair of the Judging Panel

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

Junior SCL

A site visit has been arranged at 5pm on Thursday, 13 September at the redevelopment of 200 Aldersgate Street (formerly the offices of Clifford Chance). A flyer giving full details has already been circulated to members by email and is available on the website. Places are limited so if you wish to attend, contact Frances Whitehead as soon as possible at frances.whitehead@scl.org.uk

If you are new to the world of construction law, then you can register as a junior member.  The junior committee arranges site visits, conferences with King's College London and social events such as the annual summer Boat Trip on the Thames .

Booking preference for any of the organised Junior events is always given to those who are registered as Junior Members . To register as a Junior Member is easy. Simply log in to the SCL website (www.scl.org.uk) using your username and password. Click on ‘Members' and then and then 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 stating that you are junior in your area of expertise. For further details, contact either Nicholas Gould or Richard Bailey.

Events at King's College London , Thursday 6 September 2007

The Centre of Construction Law at King's College London is running two events of interest on Thursday 6 September 2007. The first is its annual afternoon seminar Introduction to the Basics (in collaboration with the SCL Junior Committee). This is for those newly encountering construction law in their work or considering entering the field, and gives an overview of some of the key legal issues and ‘hot topics' by a team of distinguished speakers.

The seminar is followed at 6.30pm in the Great Hall by the eighth Michael Brown public lecture, given this year by Philip Britton, Director of the Centre, with the title ‘ The right law for construction? Choice of law and EU reform '. The lecture will look at the impact on construction of uniform European choice-of-law rules in contract and the likely future changes, as well as of possible new Europe-wide rules on actions in tort too. Details of these events have already been emailed to SCL members. More details, including how to book for the seminar, are in two documents downloadable from the SCL website, or obtainable from Sue Hart at the Centre at King's, susan.hart@kcl.ac.uk or phone 020-7848 2643.

All are welcome free at the lecture (and the drinks reception following), but please notify Sue of your intention to attend.

Papers

Three new papers have been put on the website during July:  D79 the paper by Catherine Burke and Michael Craik "Lawyers playing doctors and nurses - PFI in the health sector", and  the highly commended and commended entries in last year's SCL Hudson Prize essay competition:  D80 Scott Adams' paper "Better ways than the 'best way'? Improving the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol" and D81 Anders Axelson's paper "The discretion of the certifier: a drafting tool best left in the toolshed?"

A copy of Jeremy Winters' paper on global claims and John Doyle v Laing Management is enclosed with this newsletter; it will be circulated by email to all overseas e-members.

Papers in the pipeline include that by Judge Anthony Thornton QC, "The inclusive price principle – a tribute to Ian Duncan Wallace QC", Hamish Lal on "The rise and rise of time-bar clauses", Nicholas Gould on the NEC3 contract and Jonathan Hosie on turnkey contracting.

Members' Directory

Also enclosed with this newsletter (full members only) is a copy of the annual Members' Directory. Please note that the contact details in this Directory are those on the membership database at 28 June 2007; any amendments made to the database after that date are not included.

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.

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

Singapore Conference 2007

The Law Society of Singapore and SCL Singapore will jointly be holding their 3 rd 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

New Members

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

Chelle Aurelie, London
Arwyn Jones, London
John Mair, Glasgow
Edward Quigg, Belfast
Peter Railton, Dubai, UAE
Thien Foo Ko, Rosebery, Australia
Trevor Thomas, Hawthorn, Australia

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