MEETINGS AND HEARINGS in Adjudication John Redmond

DON’T! But if you must………….. Meetings and Hearings in Adjudication

HGCRA s 108(2) The Contract must enable the Adjudicator to take the initiative in ascertaining the facts and the law But how? The Statutory Background

Examples (c) Meet and question any of the parties to the contract and their representatives (d) Subject to obtaining any necessary consent from a third party, make such site visits and inspections as he considers appropriate, whether accompanied by the parties or not. But note: Scheme, para 13

The adjudicator is required to Avoid incurring unnecessary expense Scheme para 12 (b)

The Preliminary Directions Meeting The Site Visit The Adjudicator’s Inquiry The Hearing 4 types of meeting

Objectives: To clarify the issues in dispute To resolve jurisdiction points To establish the timetable Particularly useful if one party is a newbie Preliminary Directions

An expensive luxury If there is to be one, be clear about What are the relevant issues? What do you really want to see? Who needs to be there? Who should not be there? Prepare, list, check The Site Visit

Never appropriate in adjudication Remember how long trials take Adjudication is not arbitration or litigation – it is not the final answer Evidence under oath? Remember the Legal Services Act The Full Hearing

Leggatt J in Gestmin SGPS v Credit Suisse [2013] EWHC 3560 (Comm): “…the best approach….is…to place little if any reliance at all on witnesses’ recollections of what was said in meetings and conversations, and to base factual findings on inferences drawn from the documentary evidence and known or probable facts.” The Full Hearing

Never hold a meeting without good reason because: Cost Things can go wrong The fact that one party asks for a meeting is not a good reason The Meeting or Adjudicator’s Inquiry

The Meeting

Book early! Allow time in the timetable Fix a date even if a meeting is unlikely Remember to cancel it The Meeting

Keep Control Set an agenda Keep to it Prepare Know what the submissions say about the agenda points Know who the relevant witnesses are and what they say in their statements The Meeting

Control discussion Discussion can be informative Allow comment But say when you have heard enough Style Your choice – but choose The Meeting

Keeping a note Manuscript Laptop Clerk Avoid further submissions The Meeting

A meeting with the technical experts All the above apply! The Hot Tub