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Louise Sharkey

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Louise is a Knowledge Lawyer, working across the firm’s Finance Department. Louise brings considerable experience to the role having previously worked as a general finance lawyer in leading law firms in London and Dublin.

Louise now works with the general finance; the construction and engineering; and the energy, infrastructure, and natural resources teams within the Finance Department. Louise contributes to the training of Trainee Solicitors and Newly Qualified Lawyers, the development of current awareness sessions and drafting materials on recent legal developments for internal and external use.

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The judgment in Piperhill Construction Limited v Northern Ireland Housing Executive [2025] NIKB 47 considers the obligation to pay the Notified Sum. In these proceedings, Piperhill Construction Limited (plaintiff) sought summary judgment in the Northern Irish High Court to enforce an adjudicator’s decision. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (defendant) resisted the application and argued that the adjudicator had no jurisdiction.

The plaintiff and the defendant had entered a contract in August 2022 for the refurbishment of social housing. In March 2025, the plaintiff served a notice of adjudication alleging: (1) that the defendant had failed to…

Continue Reading Northern Irish High Court examines the scope of an adjudicator’s jurisdiction

The judgment of the High Court in Tenderbids Limited [Trading as Bastion] v Electrical Waste Management Limited [2025] IEHC 339 considers the allocation of costs in the context of a failed attempt to enforce an adjudicator’s decision. As context, in earlier High Court proceedings, the respondent had successfully resisted the enforcement application on jurisdictional grounds.

Although the respondent had successfully resisted enforcement, the applicant sought a modified costs order pursuant to s169 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (LSRA 2015). The normal rule is that costs follow the event, however, s169 gives the Court a discretion to…

Continue Reading Costs in adjudication enforcement

Introduction

Expert determination is a specialist form of alternative dispute resolution. It is most often used where a technical dispute arises that requires a specific expertise to resolve. As such, it is relatively quick and cost-efficient. Expert determination provisions usually provide that the parties are bound by the determination save in circumstances of manifest error in the determination. To establish a manifest error, it is not enough for a party to show that their position is correct. That party must show that the expert’s position is obviously wrong. The precise meaning of manifest error depends on the particular contract and…

Continue Reading Expert determination and manifest error

Under the Construction Contracts Act 2013 (‘CCA 2013’) a party can refer a payment dispute to adjudication. Section 6 of the CCA 2013 defines a payment dispute as ‘any dispute relating to payment arising under the construction contract.’ In the UK, although the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended) (‘HGCRA 1996’) permits any dispute to be referred to adjudication, it too confines that right to ‘a dispute arising under the contract.’ In Ireland, there is no adjudication case law regarding the parameters of the meaning ‘under the contract.’ A question arises as to…

Continue Reading The Construction Contracts Act 2013: Payment disputes arising under contract