SCL PRESIDENT'S RECEPTION
October 17, 2006

The President of the Society of Construction Law held his reception at Ironmongers Hall. It commenced at 6.30pm and around 90 people attended.

The President, Sir Anthony May QC, was introduced by the Society's Chairman, Nicholas Gould. The President then awarded John Tackaberry QC the President's Medal. Two honorary memberships were awarded, one to Peter Fenn and the other to Richard Bayfield.

John Tackaberry QC has been an avid supporter of the Society of Construction Law, since his involvement in its formation. He has published many papers, and spoken on many occasions for the Society. His most recent publication “International Dispute Resolution” is a two volume work collecting together reference material in respect of international and domestic ADR. Bernstein's Handbook of Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Practice is now in its fourth edition with John as the lead author and Arthur Marriott as his co-author.

Peter Fenn is an academic at the University of Manchester (formerly UMIST). In respect of the Society he is the regional co-ordinator for Manchester . The impressive thing about Peter is that he has been the regional co-ordinator for Manchester for many years, and during this time he has continued to organise events with a great deal of enthusiasm. He regularly organises lectures which are held at the University of Manchester , and ensures that local construction specialists speak as well as those from other parts of the country. He has continued to organise the SCL Manchester events for many years and shows no signs of stopping.

His publications are numerous, and include an SCL paper: “Why Construction Contracts go wrong (or an aetiological approach to construction disputes)”.

Richard Bayfield is a past Chairman of the Society (2003-2004). He shared the usual two year chairmanship with Christopher Miers (Christopher was the Chairman between 2002 -2003). Richard's impressive characteristic is that he has for many years dedicated a large amount of his time to the Society. It was his efforts that originally started the website with of course the technical expertise of Edward Peters, our webmaster. Richard Bayfield was also highly instrumental in the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol. He dedicated a large proportion of his time to the drafting of and of course the many discussions that eventually resulted in the published Society Protocol.

When the Vice Chairman resigned unexpectedly, Richard agreed to return as a Vice Chairman for seven months. This was almost immediately after handing over his Chairman. This was a particular sacrifice for Richard, as a sole practitioner, who had only just finished his term of office. Nonetheless, he gave his loyal support at all times.

He has also been an enthusiastic contributor to the ethics initiative, which of course is very much due to his own high personal standards of integrity.