September 2020 edition of Outlook, a roundup of news and views from the 39 Essex Commercial and Construction Group

Welcome to the September 2020 edition of Outlook, a roundup of news and views from the 39 Essex Commercial and Construction Group.

Costs are rarely far from any disputes practitioner's mind and, with the economic fallout of the pandemic looming in the background, are likely to become an even more critical consideration for lawyers and their clients. In this context, we have launched a new podcast series, Current Topics in Commercial and Construction Costs, featuring contributions so far from Peter Hurst, Paul Darling OBE QC, Marion Smith QC, Judith Ayling and Shaman Kapoor. In parallel with the podcasts, this month's newsletter features an article which examines the effect of five recent costs decisions dealing with issue-based costs orders and Third Party Costs orders and litigation funding.

It is not unheard of for a party to an arbitration dissatisfied by the tribunal's decision to seek to impeach the award on the basis of serious irregularity. While the bar for a successful challenge is relatively high, such an application may well succeed if, for example, a witness is not cross-examined on a central aspect of the case. David Sawtell FCIArb considers three recent decisions of the English court following claims brought under s 68 of the Arbitration Act.

In present times, many public authorities are reassessing their spending due to falls in demand for certain services, the reallocation of budgets and other factors. Where they have already commenced a procurement exercise, this may create difficulties. Philippe Kuhn considers the case law on contracting authorities abandoning procurements prior to award of the contract.

And Shaman Kapoor examines an epic falling out between solicitor and client, involving poorly drafted CFAs and patchy record-keeping, and leading to an 81-page judgment recently handed down by Master James in the Senior Courts Cost Office.

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