All articles by Tim Elliott

  • Tim Elliot
    Comment

    ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Act: A pier entrance can be deceptive

    2013-06-24T09:56:00Z

    Hastings council’s decision to close part of the town pier due to fears over its structural integrity put the provisions of the ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Act 1984 to the test - with perhaps surprising results

  • Tim Elliot
    Comment

    Litigation privilege: Open secrets

    2013-03-19T10:11:00Z

    If a document comes into existence for the purpose of litigation, privilege from disclosure can be claimed. But, as a recent case shows, it may be hard to persuade the court to allow the claim

  • Tim Elliot
    Comment

    Reasonable endeavours: So very obliged

    2012-11-30T00:00:00Z

    How far does a party need to go to show it has used its best endeavours to do something - not, surely, to the point of ruining itself?

  • tim-elliott-2
    Comment

    Winning on penalties

    2011-01-14T00:00:00Z

    You may have agreed a sum for breach of contract, but there’s an old common-law doctrine that could see it struck down as a penalty. Fortunately this does not happen often, says Tim Elliott

  • Tim Elliott
    Comment

    Well-defended settlements

    2010-06-18T00:00:00Z

    Showing that settlement costs are unreasonable is a difficult task, as the installer of a defective sprinkler found when Siemens chased it for payment

  • Comment

    Off half-cock

    2010-04-09T00:00:00Z

    You’d think that getting the contract right before beginning work was just common sense. Especially since, if you don’t, the only people likely to win are the lawyers …

  • Tim Elliott
    Comment

    Have wig, will travel

    2010-02-19T00:00:00Z

    The increasingly mobile judges of the TCC are happy to do you a trial in the cheapest, most convenient part of the country. But how do you decide where that is?

  • Comment

    Legal costs: And you say we won?

    2009-10-30T00:00:00Z

    As Costain vs Haswell shows, judges are using exact measures to work out who pays how much of the legal costs. The results should give a lot of litigants pause for thought

  • Comment

    Turning of the tide: Super litigation

    2009-08-07T00:00:00Z

    Litigation is too often the meandering paddle steamer to adjudication’s inaccurate exocet. But a recent case shows courts can sometimes be both speedy and right

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    What price victory? Winning back legal costs

    2009-05-15T00:00:00Z

    You’ve won a legal battle so it’s only reasonable you get your costs reimbursed, isn’t it? Ah, if only it were that simple

  • Tim Elliott
    Comment

    Fair enough?: Breaching natural justice

    2009-03-06T00:00:00Z

    The case of Dorchester vs Vivid raised the familiar question of when an adjudication breaches natural justice. Here’s what the judge had to say…

  • Tim Elliott
    Comment

    Pre-action protocol: How not to impress a judge

    2008-10-10T00:00:00Z

    The pre-action protocol is a simple, practical measure that’s meant to save money and keep you lot out of court. So don’t go getting too clever about it

  • Comment

    Gaymark: the story continues

    2007-09-14T00:00:00Z

     Gaymark made it clear that an employer could not claim liquidated damages if it was responsible for the delay. Then Justice Jackson cast doubt on this ruling. So now where are we?

  • Comment

    Troubles along the way

    2007-06-15T00:00:00Z

    A recent case involving temporary works, and what happens when they fail to do their job, casts some light on the tricky inspection obligations of professionals

  • Tim Elliott
    Comment

    Who are you today?

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    Contract administrators are in the sometimes awkward position of having to act for the client one minute and being impartial the next. Here’s what happened when one got the balance wrong

  • Tim Elliot
    Comment

    The men with two heads

    2007-02-02T00:00:00Z

    It seems that under most contracts, the contract administrator does really have to spend some time acting for the client and some time acting impartially

  • Tim Elliot
    Comment

    After the fire

    2006-09-22T00:00:00Z

    If your home goes up in smoke, you naturally expect that it will be rebuilt quickly. Here’s a case in which, after more than three years of bitter wrangling, the house is still a ruin

  • Comment

    I pick me

    2006-03-03T00:00:00Z

    Can an employer get rid of its construction manager and take on the job itself? The answer is no, according to the judge in this recent court case …

  • Tim Elliott
    Comment

    Fair, but harsh

    2005-08-12T00:00:00Z

    If you spend money defending yourself against an unfounded charge, you ought to get your money back from whoever brought that charge. Well, you’d think so …

  • Comment

    Some kicks at clause 66

    2005-04-22T00:00:00Z

    One of the fundamental rules of natural justice is that you have to listen to both sides of a case before reaching a judgment. Unless, of course, you are an engineer