An interview in our series, 'Spotlighting Adjudicators'
What were you, professionally, before you started work as an Adjudicator?
I trained and worked as a quantity surveyor working for contractors, clients, and consultancies for 11 years. Whilst working for a construction consultancy I undertook the Post Graduate Diploma in Construction Law & Adjudication. Following this, I moved into working as a quantum expert witness and which remains my primary profession today.
How in your view has adjudication changed over your career?
Adjudication has, in my opinion, vastly changed over the last 25 years – some ways for the better, and in other ways bringing new complexity and challenges to the process. More specifically, the use of adjudication has significantly increased over the duration of my career. It’s an effective form of dispute resolution that is, in theory, accessible to all, and a wider understanding of the process by the industry has encouraged the use of adjudication as an effective form of dispute resolution. Amongst other things, this has meant that the types of disputes being referred have also changed; today we see all manner of disputes, not just those related to payment issues, which in turn provides new challenges and complexities over and above those originally envisaged at its inception.
What advice would you give to 'new' adjudicators?
I consider myself to be relatively new, and through my experiences to date I have learned that becoming an adjudicator takes patience, time, and determination. Be prepared for this and don’t be dissuaded by the barriers. Instead find people that support and encourage you, be that by way of mentorship, contacts or simply encouragement, it makes the world of difference.