WHILE THE PRACTICE AS A WHOLE is focused mostly on advising and supporting parties who are in dispute, principal consultant John FFF O’Brien is a fully qualified conciliator and mediator and is frequently appointed by parties to be the referee in a dispute.

John is a CEDR-accredited commercial mediator, a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a practising CIF arbitrator. When he is appointed to conduct a hearing, he sets out to manage the process to achieve a speedy and fair closure.

Given that 95% of disputes are settled via mediation and conciliation, where the parties themselves remain in control, John’s expertise in and forensic knowledge of construction, and of the law as it applies there, is a huge advantage for the parties.

When John sits as mediator or conciliator in their case, both parties benefit from his detailed knowledge of the sector and his ferocious forensic abilities, all of which help enormously in speeding the process to a successful conclusion.

Fairness, Impartiality and Integrity

As John puts it, “when I act as the referee in a dispute our keynote values apply — fairness, impartiality and integrity — together with our detailed knowledge of the sector and our ferocious forensic abilities. That helps enormously in speeding the process to a successful conclusion.

He adds: “When I sit to conduct a hearing, it’s a different John O’Brien than that guy sitting with his client facing some other conciliator or arbitrator. I have to be judicial, in the full sense, as the law of contract applied to construction disputes is very complex. Also, all parties have exactly the same rights under the law, and under natural justice.

“I’m a sort of judge when I sit there, so my principles must be impartiality, fairness and integrity.”

John is definitely a cheerleader for conciliation and mediation as the supreme forms of dispute resolution. He believes that they are the best and least stressful approaches for disputants, and that they will continue to dominate the field.

And when John Farage O’Brien is engaged by a party to a dispute, the company provide advice and guidance on possible causes of dispute such as perceived breaches of contract. The firm can then continue that support as the client’s advisor or representative at any form of alternative dispute resolution — conciliation, mediation, adjudication or arbitration.

The contracts in question are not necessarily large: “While John Farage O’Brien represents and advises some of the biggest construction firms in the world, we do the same for smaller domestic contractors and sub-contractors."

Worried Householder

“We also represent employers who feel they are not receiving what was contracted for. This could mean a householder, for example, worried about the quality of a one-off house. Or it could be a state entity or a giant corporation which suspects that their new office block or manufacturing facility has serious and expensive defects.

“If legal representation is needed, we also provide legal support to our client’s existing lawyers or can recommend specialist construction lawyers we have worked with successfully in the past.

"This can range from briefing the legal team and translating complex issues, to identifying expert witness requirements and briefing experts. We can also prepare witnesses of fact, or draft and edit pleadings.

“So we can either represent you throughout proceedings, or provide robust, expert advice and support to your legal team if they are needed in a dispute.”

CONSTRUCTION DISPUTES are inherently very complex to resolve because they usually cross over several professional disciplines, to varying degrees and with varying weightings for each of these, depending on circumstances.

If there is a deficit in knowledge, appreciation, understanding and practical experience of any of these separate disciplines, this can quickly give rise to areas of doubt and uncertainty.

This can lead parties to seek external advice from consultants, lawyers and experts — in many cases solely to justify an entrenched position.

Many parties to a dispute can find themselves deep into an alternative dispute resolution process, looking for an entitlement that may not exist in reality.

But a party armed with the benefit of weighted, expert advice across all disciplines will increase enormously its chances of early resolution or of avoiding unnecessary proceedings.

John Farage O’Brien is one of the few consultancies which can provide this advice to a consistently high standard, with qualifications, expertise and experience in all relevant disciplines.