Annual Report 2009 - Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Annual Report 2009WEST MIDLANDS BranchChairman: Robert HarrisonThe principal West Midlands Branch officers for 2009 were:Robert Harrison (Chairman), Madelaine Hanlon (HonorarySecretary), David Simons (Honorary Treasurer) and PeterCollie (Public Relations Officer).The focus for the West Midlands Branch this year has onceagain been its programme of education and training events.The policy of inviting local chambers and firms to host eventsand the mixture of local and external speakers has workedwell, with very good attendance. The branch has also continuedthe policy of holding some joint meetings with theAdjudication Society.The subjects have been varied, covering arbitration, adjudicationand general legal issues with topics ranging from ‘ContentiousHeads of Claims and Winning Ways of Presenting Evidence’to ‘Payment under the New Construction Act’.An Adjudication Workshop has also been held and a livelydebate on whether the enforcement of adjudicators’decisions requires a statutory procedure was surprisinglywon by the proposer of the motion. Once again theArbitrator’s Surgery, which up to the year before last hadbeen a very popular event, had to be cancelled due lack ofinterest.The branch has continued its links with WolverhamptonUniversity where talks have been given to undergraduates atthe university.The branch is in the process of setting up a young membersgroup. A budget to develop this initiative has been allocatedand a programme of events is being prepared. A member ofthe committee has taken this initiative on board and twoyoung members of the Institute have been co-opted onto asub-committee to assist in the tasks involved.A considerable amount of work has been put intodeveloping a local arbitration scheme and the committeehas tried to involve the Local Chamber of Commerce inpromoting the scheme amongst its members, but to datelittle success has been achieved. Further initiatives topromote the scheme are planned for 2010.The year has also seen considerable effort being put intoorganising our branch conference which will take place inApril 2010 and will cover the role of the expert witness indispute resolution.■WESTERN COUNTIES BranchChairman: Michael TwineThe principal Western Counties Branch officers for 2009were: Mike Twine (Chairman), Jonathan Wyatt and BrianHinchcliffe (Vice Chairs), Morwenna Crichton (HonorarySecretary) Robin Gupta (Honorary Treasurer) and PeterBuechel (Public Relations Officer).Michael Twine assumed the role of the Western CountiesBranch Chairman following the Branch AGM on 23 April2009, taking over from Peter Buechel.Sadly, Brian Hinchcliffe, Junior Vice Chairman andlongstanding committee member, died a few months agoafter a long illness.We were fortunate in having John Campbell QC andPresident of CIArb as our speaker at the AGM in April 2009,where he delivered a paper on the subject of “Bias andConflict of Interest”.A successful Arbitrator’s Surgery was held on 6 May. In June,we held our informal summer meeting where members andtheir guests visited Stourhead, with some staying on in theevening to see a performance of the Merchant of Venice.Thanks to Jonathan Wyatt for his organisation of this event.Rudi Klien was our guest speaker for the October meeting inExeter, where he talked about the proposed changes to theConstruction Act.In November 2009 we held a meeting in Bristol, where TonyBingham gave a presentation on “What can we arbitratorslearn from what we call the summary process ofadjudication?”.I should like to thank the branch committee for their supportduring the year, particularly as I have not been able to giveas much time to branch matters as I would have liked.Morwenna Crichton will be standing down as HonorarySecretary in 2010 and I would like to thank her for all herhard work. I would also like to thank Peter Buechel for hiscontinuing support as Immediate Past Chairman and as thecurrent PRO. Peter has done a magnificent job in keepingour own branch website up to date and of benefit to thebranch.On behalf of the committee I would also like to thank DavidSimper, a Trustee, who has been very supportive of thebranch, in particular representing our interests and concernsto Bloomsbury Square.■Page 28CIArb Annual Report 2009: United Kingdom Branch Reports