The SCL Hudson Prize

Anthony Lavers, Professor of Law, School of Real Estate Management, Oxford Brookes University, and a Member of Council, Society of Construction Law, explains the background to this annual prize.

Introduction

The Society of Construction Law is well-known to most of those involved in construction procurement, contract claims and dispute resolution. Founded in 1983, it comprises over 2000 members from all sections of the construction industry and associated legal practices. Sir Anthony May is its President and Dr Ronan Champion is the current chairman. Its mission is to promote and encourage the study of construction law and the exchange of information and ideas concerning it. This is done in a number of ways, including the giving of papers by invited speakers at the monthly meetings in London and the regions, publishing papers and supporting educational activities in the construction law field in universities and colleges.

The idea of an essay prize

In the mid-1980s, Leonard Fletcher and other leading members of the Society at that time conceived the idea of an annual prize to be given for the best essay on a construction law topic. The name was chosen in honour of Alfred Hudson, who was virtually the founding father of the subject and author of what was for many years the only comprehensive principal text. Thus the Alfred Hudson Prize, as it was then known, came into being.

The SCL Hudson Prize

After a decade as the Alfred Hudson Prize, the competition was re-launched with a slightly different format as the SCL Hudson Prize in 1996, in order to encourage the widest possible range of participants and topics. A maximum limit of 5000 words was introduced and the emphasis placed on originality of thought or approach. In 2008, the Society increased the prize money to £2000 for 1st Prize and £1000 for 2nd Prize. Entrants can also be Highly Commended or Commended. All who are awarded prizes or commendations receive a year’s free membership of the Society.

Approach topics for entry

The Society’s Council decided on a formulation of appropriate subject matter for entries: ‘The subject matter for entries for the SCL Hudson Prize shall be: A topic which is part of, or closely related to, construction law, including (but not restricted to) Construction and Engineering Contracts, Contract Administration, Claims, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Construction Litigation, The law of Torts, Company Law, Property Law, Taxation relating to construction and any other aspect of law or procedure relevant to the construction industry’.

This is an attempt to express the extent of the range of appropriate topics for entry. The scope has always been wide. In the decade since 1998, for example, there have been prize-winning entries on expert evidence, partnering agreements, negligence liability of public authorities, extensions of time, penalty clauses, the Rome Convention, unfair contract terms in adjudication, repudiation, variations and public law and statutory adjudication, as well as several other topics.

Judging the entries

Because of the eclectic choice of topics submitted, it has been seen as important to have a judging panel with a variety of backgrounds. At different times, the panel has included barristers (both QCs and juniors), solicitors, arbitrators, engineers, quantity surveyors and academics. It is our policy always to have both lawyers and non-lawyers as panel members.

As has already been indicated, the judging panel will give considerable weight to the freshness of the ideas and the value of the work: 50% of the marks are available for originality of thought or approach and contribution to the study or practice of construction law or its application. Naturally, the substance of the submission is also important and 40% of the marks are for the explanation of the basic information and the quality of the analysis and discussion. The remaining 10% are available for clarity of presentation, grammar, spelling, punctuation and referencing.

While footnoting or other method of referencing sources does not count towards this total and is encouraged, some recent entrants appear to have tried to avoid the word limit by loading footnotes with matters of substance, sometimes running to several paragraphs, in a disproportionate and inappropriate way. This is almost always counter-productive.

Papers with a maximum of two authors will be accepted, although, in the event of a paper with two authors winning first prize, the prize will be shared between them.

Entrants and winners

It has been observed that the Society’s members represent many disciplines related to construction and this is reflected in the entrants and winners of the SCL Hudson Prize. As might be expected, the legal profession is well represented. Barrister Helen Payne won in 1994 and Richard McLoughlin QC obtained second prize in 1997. Solicitor Philip Eyre won in 2000 and Julian Bailey took first prize in 2006 and 2007. The prize even went to a trainee solicitor when Deborah Brown won in 1999. However, practising lawyers have by no means had it all their own way. Chartered surveyors Richard Lyndon and John McGuinness won the competition in 1996 and 1997 respectively and Ronan Champion was second prize winner in 2006. Academic Philip Britton is the most successful entrant in the history of the competition to date, winning first prize in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and second prize in 2000.

The growing international profile of the Society’s membership has been reflected with successes for entrants from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Hong Kong and Singapore. Australian entrants have won prizes in four of the five years between 2004 and 2008.

Past winners

A list of past winners can be viewed on this website.

Publication of winning papers

The Society publishes the prize-winning entries and many are also published in prestigious journals such as the International Construction Law Review or the Construction Law Journal.