Tag Archives: Pinsent Masons

Adjudication in the Northern Territory

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ichthysI have been spending a bit of time in Darwin. As it happens, I am an accredited adjudicator there, but this time I have been there as counsel, again bowling over a determination of another adjudicator.

The first outing was before the Chief Justice, obtaining interlocutory relief ex parte on notice to restrain the other party from enforcing the determination it had obtained pending the hearing of our challenge. The usual practice in the Northern Territory had not been to grant relief, but happily, the Chief Justice gave indications that he was persuaded by my submissions that we had a prima facie case, and as to the balance of convenience, that the factors to weigh in the balance were potentially

  • to keep the adjudication claimant of of its money for a couple of weeks or so, while the challenge was heard, contrasted with
  • to keep the adjudication respondent out of its money for perhaps a couple of years or so, for the payment to be recouped by full-scale arbitration poroceedings.

He was thus minded to follow the New South Wales practice, noted in Williams v Concreting Services [2013] NSWSC 85 per McDougall J: Continue reading →

Firm Bases

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Michael Battye soon to rejoin Pinsent Masons

Before I launched what is now Fenwick Elliott LLP, which is now the largest construction law specialist firm in the UK, I worked as an assistant solicitor with Masons, which was then an out-and-out construction law specialist firm in London.  The firm later merged with a general practice to become Pinsent Masons, which in turn has grown hugely, now with some 20 offices around the world.

Anyway, Pinsent Masons is about to open for business in Australia.

Australia is lovely, but a bit weird. It punches hugely above its weight in some areas, such as sport, but way below its weight in others, such as international law. Part of the problem, perhaps, is the State system, which is just too hard for the international mind.  So South Eastern Asia tends to go all round the world to London for specialist law, rather than to the much closer Australia.  It is not that Australian is devoid of good lawyers. But with some notable exceptions, it is short on specialist construction law firms (by international standards, a lot of work still goes to the big general practices) and hence it tends to be rather expensive. And it is a shade parochial (there are still people who say that you need a “home town” counsel if you want to win a court battle).

Instead, there has been a plethora of mergers and alliances.  Australia is a fairly big market of itself.  And its major contractors have a substantial reach.

Pinsent Masons have recruited some senior lawyers from other firms for their new offices in Australia. Of the Adelaide crop, Pinsent Masons have garnered Michael Battye’s QED Legal.  Michael has been busy Continue reading →