Reflections on Life as a Judge of the Technology and Construction Court

Her Honour Frances Kirkham CBE

April 2012

An informal talk given to the Society of Construction Law at meetings in London on 6th December 2011 and Nottingham on 6th March 2012

In this short but entertaining and illuminating paper, Her Honour Frances Kirkham - who was a solicitor before becoming a TCC judge in Birmingham - talks about her experiences as a judge. In particular, she considers some of the ways in which TCC judges have taken an innovative approach to dispute resolution, and her personal approach. She concludes with some ideas for the future.

Introduction - Adjudication - Early neutral evaluation - Case management and in particular the use of experts - Single jointly instructed experts - Assessor - Hot tubbing - Location and timing - Costs - Unrepresented parties - The future.

The author: HH Frances Kirkham CBE, BA, AKC, FCIArb, Chartered Arbitrator.

Text 8 pages.