LegalAI[Space]

Construction · Construction disputes team, contractor's counsel, partner

Prepare a referral for a construction adjudication

A notice of adjudication has been served and the referral has to follow within seven days. The run builds the referral around a dispute defined to match the notice, with the evidence schedule the adjudicator will actually use.

First draft
A structured referral draft with its evidence schedule comes back from one run inside the seven-day window.

The problem

The seven-day window is the tightest deadline in construction disputes and the referral is where cases are lost. A referral that widens the dispute beyond the notice risks a jurisdictional challenge, one that fails to plead the contractual mechanism invites a defence on the mechanism alone, and the evidence schedule is usually assembled last when there is no time left.
  1. Step 01 of 05

    Record the notice date

    The date of the notice of adjudication goes on the matter as the key date the referral deadline counts from, with the contract, the notice and the correspondence uploaded.

    Matters · Project Halcyon · SPA warranties and disclosureOpen

    Project Halcyon: SPA warranties and disclosure

    Buy-side warranty review, disclosure analysis and cited due-diligence grid.

    Client
    Halcyon Bidco Ltd
    Reference
    WC-2026-0412
    Practice area
    Corporate / M&A
    Jurisdiction
    England and Wales
    Responsible partner
    E. Vance
    No conflict check on file.

    Chat, on this matter

    Compare warranties with the disclosure letter.

    Three high-priority exceptions require action: the unregistered charge, the change-of-control right and the tribunal claim.

    Send a message… (@ to mention tools)BalancedPrepare for
    1. 25 Aug

      Disclosure exceptions matrix

      Chat

    2. 21 Aug

      Disclosure exceptions matrix

      Run · completed · 560 credits

    3. 18 Aug

      Project Halcyon: Disclosure Letter

      Document · indexed

    4. 16 Aug

      Project Halcyon: Share Purchase Agreement

      Document · indexed

    5. 4 Aug

      Matter opened

      Opened

  2. Step 02 of 05

    Define the dispute against the notice

    Prepare for: Court-Ready. The instruction asks for a dispute definition that matches the notice exactly, with any wider point identified rather than quietly included.

    Agents · Contract Agent · New runMatter: Northgate · senior associate hire

    Agent

    Jurisdiction

    Prepare for

    Deliver as

    Instruction

    What should the agent look for?

    Documents

    Drop a contract, or pick one from the matter

    Also on the matter

    • Offer_letter_v3.pdf2 pages
    • Staff_handbook_2025.docx61 pages
    • Board_minute_14_Aug.pdf3 pages
    Platform model · zero data retention · audit register on
  3. Step 03 of 05

    Build the referral

    The referral covers the contract, the mechanism relied on, the facts in dated order, the relief sought and the evidence relied on for each proposition.

    Agents · Contract Agent · Employment Contract Compliance ReviewCompleted
    6 items need your confirmation14 authorities · Where we looked

    Senior Associate Employment Contract: English Law Review

    Summary

    1. 1.

      Clause 9(c), non-competeHigh

      The 12-month prohibition on working for any law firm anywhere in the UK, Ireland or EU, in any capacity, is almost certainly wider than reasonably necessary and therefore unlikely to be enforceable.

      Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32
    2. 2.

      Clause 11, data and monitoringHigh

      Blanket contractual consent is not an adequate basis for general employment processing, special-category data or unrestricted monitoring.

      UK GDPR, Arts 6 and 9
    3. 3.

      Clause 4, holiday carry-overHigh

      The unconditional five-day cap conflicts with mandatory carry-over rights where sickness, statutory leave or employer failure prevents leave being taken.

      Working Time Regulations 1998, regs 13 to 13A
  4. Step 04 of 05

    Read the jurisdiction warning

    One head of relief in the draft goes beyond the notice, and the memo flags it as a jurisdictional risk with the option of a fresh notice explained.

    Agents · Contract Agent · Employment Contract Compliance ReviewCompleted

    Settle any of these and a refined run folds your answers into the memo.

    • Does the firm intend the covenants to bite in Ireland and the EU, or only England and Wales?
    • Is there a separate monitoring policy the contract should reference?
    • Has the employee already given a written working-time opt-out?
  5. Step 05 of 05

    Sign off inside the window

    The partner ticks the items, clicks Verify all, and settles the referral for service with a day in hand.

    Agents · Contract Agent · Employment Contract Compliance ReviewCompleted
    • Replace the UK/Ireland/EU non-compete with a 3 to 6 month restriction tied to competing corporate-law work.

    • Replace blanket data consent with a lawful-basis clause and a separate monitoring notice.

    • Remove the five-day carry-over cap and reference the statutory carry-over rules.

    • Narrow the client non-solicit to clients dealt with in the final 12 months.

    • Add an explicit working-time opt-out withdrawal mechanism.

    • Confirm the bonus clause states the discretion is exercised in good faith.

What comes back

A document, not a transcript.

  • A dispute definition matched to the notice, with any point that goes beyond it identified separately.
  • A referral covering the contract, the mechanism, the dated facts and the relief sought.
  • An evidence schedule linking each proposition to the document that supports it.
  • A jurisdictional risk note on the head of relief that the notice does not cover.

Authorities it checks

  • Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, s 108
  • Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649
Every source it may cite

What it does not do

  • It does not serve the referral or appoint the adjudicator.
  • It does not decide whether to narrow the notice or serve a fresh one; it sets out both routes and their cost.
  • It does not produce witness evidence, which has to come from the people who were there.

Run this on your own document

Free plan, two seats, no card.