It’s worth spending time on expert determination clauses. Tamar Halevy explains why
Expert determination is an effective means of deciding narrow technical points of dispute that the parties to a contract want to resolve relatively cheaply and quickly. Because of the specialist nature of the points that are normally the subject of expert determination, parties generally feel comfortable assigning full responsibility for the decision to the impartial expert, whose decision will be final and binding on the parties.
The question is, what should an expert do if an issue arises within his task that is outside his field of expertise and that he does not feel capable of resolving? In Bruce v Carpenter & Others [2006] EWHC 3301, [2006] All ER (D) 405 (Nov), the High Court took the view that the expert was required to resolve the issue himself, even if it was outside the expert’s field of expertise.
Expert determination is a popular form of dispute resolution used to resolve primarily valuation or technical disputes that arise under particular types of
