Building & Construction Law Disputes
Get the latest updates on building and construction disputes that you need to be across in your practice. receive a comprehensive overview of the construction landscape in New Zealand. Analyse the most recent cases. Receive practical tips on the distinction between delay and disruption. Plus, walk away with a deeper understanding of how to approach a complex construction dispute, including adjudication and arbitration procedures. WEB232NZA07Z
Description
Attend and earn 3 CPD hours
Chair: Shanti Frater, Partner, Simpson Grierson
2.00pm to 2.45pm NZ Construction Disputes Landscape
- Dispute resolution in the construction context
- Dispute resolution process under NZS391X contracts
- Comparison of alternative dispute resolution procedures
- Recent trends in resolution of construction disputes
Presented by Mark Gillard, Special Counsel, Simpson Grierson
2.50pm to 3.35pm Delay and Disruption
- What is Concurrent delay?
- Approaches to establishing whether there is a concurrent delay
- Competing approaches
- Summary of the recent relevant case law
Presented by David van Hout, Director and Scott Russell, Managing Director, Russell Legal
3.40pm to 4.25pm Complex Construction Disputes
- Extrapolation claims
- A guide to Construction Contracts Act (CCA) adjudication procedures and comparison with High Court/arbitration procedure
- How to bring parties back to using contractual variation mechanisms and procedures where there has been slippage in adhering to them
Presented by Graeme Christie, Barrister, Arbitrator, Bankside Chambers and Lily Kennedy-Perkins, Senior Solicitor, Simpson Grierson
4.30pm to 5.15pm Construction Law Disputes: Analysis and Key Takeaways from the Recent Cases
Examine the key recent decisions relevant to the construction industry, including why they are important, and what they mean for you.
Presented by Joanna Trezise, Senior Associate – Litigation, Russell McVeagh
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the difference between delay and disruption and successfully learn to quantify your loss as a result of delay/disruption
- Explore various extrapolation claims and the adjudication process to resolve disputes
- Get an update on the latest cases coming out of the High Court
- Examine the construction landscape and get top tips from the experts
Presenters
Shanti Frater
Shanti is a partner in the firm's construction group, and advises local government, district health boards, and private sector clients throughout New Zealand. She has over 18 years’ experience as a specialist construction and litigation lawyer, including six years with a top litigation firm in Canada prior to joining the firm in 2009. Shanti advises clients on a broad range of contractual issues at all stages of construction projects. She is experienced with New Zealand and international forms of construction contracts and consultancy services agreements including NZS391X, FIDIC, NEC, CCCS, and NZIA. She also has extensive dispute resolution expertise, having been responsible for managing many CCA adjudications ranging from tens of thousands to multi-million dollar claims and resolving claims through mediation and arbitration.
Mark Gillard
Mark is a Special Counsel in Simpson Grierson’s construction group, specialising in construction, infrastructure and procurement. Mark joined the Simpson Grierson in 2018 after spending 15 years in Australia where he worked both in top tier law firms (Clayton Utz and Herbert Smith Freehills) and in-house roles assisting with the successful delivery of major infrastructure projects across Australia, including several significant public transport projects in Sydney. His experience covers projects across the rail, roads, telecommunications, water, energy, property development and defence sectors. These projects have been delivered using a wide variety of documentation, from short form minor works contracts to suites of complex PPP documents for the financing and construction of major infrastructure. Mark has advised on resolving complex, high value disputes, including the renegotiation and amendment of project documents for PPP, joint venture and alliance arrangements. Where a dispute cannot be avoided, Mark is experienced in developing and implementing strategies which resolve disputes efficiently and minimise their impact on project delivery.
David van Hout
David has approximately 15 years’ experience as a litigator and has appeared in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He has experience working in litigation teams in both private and public practice and working on complex construction litigation, including working on one of the largest construction product defect liability cases in New Zealand. Since joining Russell Legal in 2019, David has regularly assisted clients in the construction industry on a range of matters, including payment and variation disputes, delay and disruption claims, and negligence claims. Outside of the office, David is completing postgraduate studies in construction law at the University of Melbourne.
Scott Russell
Scott has been working his entire career with clients in the construction industry. He started his career at Bell Gully, where his first job was working on the longest running construction litigation case in New Zealand – CHH v Rolls Royce & Genesis. He was in court for almost 300 days which either scarred him for life or grew his love of construction law (or maybe a bit of both). Scott then moved to Hong Kong, then London, where he was involved in major construction projects and disputes, including litigation relating to the Teeside power station, the largest gas fired power station in Europe, and the Maybourne Hotel Group in London, the billion dollar hotel empire of Patrick McKillen. On his return to New Zealand Scott founded his own law firm to provide direct and pragmatic advice to successfully manage projects and resolve all kinds of construction disputes. Outside of work, Scott enjoys traveling slowly, over long distances, in the least sensible way possible. This has included driving a 7 horsepower moto-rickshaw 3,000km across India and hopping local buses the 10,000km length of South America.
Graeme Christie
Graeme is a Construction Lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in construction law advising on contracts and the many issues arising on construction projects, including 3 years with Linklaters in London. He is well versed in the FIDIC Conditions and their rainbow suite of contracts ( including the 1999 Silver Book) and has acted in many large disputes involving the FIDIC conditions including as arbitrator in an international ICC arbitration. Graeme is a Fellow of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers ( IACL) ( which is invite only and the only New Zealand representative) and has presented at a number of their international conferences. ( The 60 Fellows include the previous and present Chief Justices of Canada and Singapore, as well as Judges of the Singaporean ICC and the English High Court). He has been involved in many major construction infrastructure projects both on and offshore and is well known in the international construction industry. In 2019 Best Lawyer named Graeme as Best Construction Lawyer in New Zealand (an award voted for by his peers). He is regularly listed amongst the leading practitioners in this field in New Zealand, the South Pacific and Australia. Graeme as considerable experience of acting for principals, consultants, contractors, and subcontractors so knows the issues that arise very well. He provides advice on a wide range of construction issues, including structuring and contract documentation, joint venture agreements (including for the iconic 7-star Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai – https://www.jumeirah.com) alliancing, partnering, guaranteed maximum price contracts, etc. He also assists clients to resolve construction disputes by means of negotiated settlements, mediation, arbitration, adjudication, and litigation and is well versed in ADR techniques and early intervention to help solve issues. He has been involved in many projects and disputes in numerous Pacific nations including PNG, Fiji, Western and American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, and Noumea. He has also appeared in the Court of Appeal in Fiji and the Cook Islands.
Lily Kennedy-Perkins
Lily Kennedy-Perkins is a Senior Solicitor in Simpson Grierson’s construction group. Lily assists clients, both principals and contractors, with construction disputes. She is experienced in dealing with all manner of dispute forums - Construction Contracts Act 2002 adjudication, mediation, arbitration, and court. Lily has also assisted with defending Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 prosecutions.
Joanna Trezise
Joanna Trezise is a Senior Associate in Russell McVeagh's litigation department. She acts and advises on a broad range of complex commercial disputes, with a focus on construction disputes, regulatory investigations and enforcement, and trust disputes. Joanna is the editor of Russell McVeagh's quarterly construction disputes publication, Breaking Ground, and serves on the Auckland District Law Society's CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Committee. She was elected to the council of New Zealand's Society for Construction Law in 2022.