Julian Bailey (ed), Construction Law, Costs and Contemporary Developments: Drawing the Threads Together; A Festschrift for Lord Justice Jackson

Date01 September 2019
DOI10.3366/elr.2019.0586
Pages452-453
Published date01 September 2019
Author

Lord Justice Jackson had a distinguished career which left a lasting impression on both construction law and practice. This book is a fitting testament to that career, but to only describe it as that is to underestimate the value of this book.

The construction sector produces significant court judgments at what is, from the perspective of a busy lawyer permanently short of time, an alarming rate. It would be very easy to place a book with the enticing title of “Construction Law, Costs and Contemporary Developments” aside to read at a later date. That would be a mistake.

Despite its title, this is an eminently readable book on the leading construction judgments of Lord Justice Jackson over twenty years. It is a book which reflects upon the past, but which also remains relevant for the future. The topics which the contributing authors reflect upon are the topics which construction professionals continue to wrestle with on a daily basis: adjudication, fitness for purpose, consideration, good faith, defects, economic loss, negligence, neighbour rights, contract administration, PFI, performance bonds, time and liquidated damages. Each of these topics remains relevant, and highly litigious, today.

The array of twenty contributing authors is most impressive and includes judges, barristers, solicitors and academics. Each author addresses a discrete topic with headings which construction professionals will easily recognise e.g. “A Second Bite”, “Of Chocolate Mousse and Good Faith”, “Penalties in the Box”. If called upon to advise on any one of the topics covered, pick up the book and read the relevant chapter for a beautifully written analysis of the law, peppered with personal reflections and stories about Lord Justice Jackson as a man, as well as a judge.

One chapter (chapter one) deserves to be highlighted – the introduction by the editor, Julian Bailey: “A Judicial Career of many...

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