England – South East Branch

2008 Annual Report by Helena Riches, Chairman.

The principal branch officers in 2008 were: Helena Riches, nee Brown (Chairman), Roderick O'Driscoll / Colin Featherstone (Vice Chairman), Kevin Trash (Secretary), Jonathan Hills (Treasurer) and Ian Wilson (Public Relations Officer).

CIArb South East Branch held nine technical meetings during 2008, seven in Reigate and two in Tonbridge. We have once again welcomed an impressive selection of speakers, and we have tried particularly hard to offer a diverse range of topics during the year. We also held two very successful joint meetings, in an effort to raise the profile of the branch and to provide opportunities for our members to meet with members of other like-minded organisations.

January 2008 saw our first joint meeting with the Surrey and Sussex centres of the Chartered Institute of Building, and the success of the event was overwhelming. In November 2008 we also held our annual joint meeting with the Institution of Civil Engineers. A second joint meeting with CIOB has been arranged for January 2009 and we will hopefully hold another joint meeting with ICE during the coming year.

We are extremely grateful to all the speakers during 2008 for giving generously of their time to visit the branch. Our full list of technical meetings during 2008 is as follows:

• January - Joint meeting with CIOB: Peter Barnes, JCT 2005 update
• February - Peter Ashford of Cripps Harries Hall, International Arbitration
• March - Branch AGM followed by His Honour Judge Anthony Thornton QC, Judge-led mediation and other TCC developments in ADR support
• April - Mike Owen, Director of Marketing, Membership and Training, CIArb update
• May - Philip Fidler, Rod O'Driscoll and others, Mock Preliminary Meeting
• June - Robert Evans of Keating Chambers, Arbitration Case Law update
• September - Nicholas Cheffings of Lovells LLP, new RICS Guidance Notes and Practice Statements for expert witnesses and surveyors acting as advocates
• October - Teresa Cheng SC, CIArb President for 2008, Combining Mediation and Arbitration - Perils and Opportunities
• November - Joint meeting with ICE: Neville Tait, 'Don't shoot the Engineer!'

We also held two very enjoyable social events during 2008; the Branch Summer Outing in July and the Annual Dinner in September. The summer outing was a delightful trip to Bodiam Castle, including a return journey from Tenterden to Bodiam by steam train on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, and the annual dinner was a magical evening held in the spectacular surroundings of the mediaeval Gate House of Leeds Castle.

I am extremely grateful for the support of various dedicated members of the branch committee who have worked hard to organise a varied programme of meetings and events. Colin Featherstone organised many of 2008's technical meetings, and Anne Kenny and Jane Ryland arranged a wonderful summer outing. Murray Armes continues to do an excellent job as editor of our branch newsletter, News & Views, and I am also extremely grateful to David Simmonds for his continuing efforts as webmaster for our branch website: www.arbitrate.org.uk

Last Updated: 13 May 2009