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MEETINGS AND HEARINGSin 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 timetableFix a date even if a meeting is
unlikelyRemember to cancel it
The Meeting
Keep Control Set an agenda Keep to itPrepare
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 informativeAllow commentBut say when you have heard enough
StyleYour choice – but choose
The Meeting
Keeping a note ManuscriptLaptopClerk
Avoid further submissions
The Meeting
A meeting with the technical experts
All the above apply!
The Hot Tub