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Branch Committee - New Members
This year we welcome three new members onto the Branch Committee. They have all got stuck in straight away and we look forward to the years ahead with a much strengthened committee.
JONATHAN HILLS
Jonathan Hills read Russian at Oxford before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with a Big Four firm. He joined PKF, a mid - tier firm, shortly after qualifying and became a Partner in 1981. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser and specialises in all forms of direct tax, both international and domestic. Having been PKF's National Director of Tax and Chairman of its International Tax Committee, based in London, he now practices mainly from the firm's Guildford office. He specialises in corporate reconstructions, mergers and acquisitions, inward and outward investment and tax efficient employment incentives.
Jonathan is steadily going through the CIArb exams, having passed Part 111A in 2004. As yet, he has little practical experience of arbitration but he has been involved in litigation as expert witness, giving evidence in the High Court on several occasions. He has also advised solicitors and other firms of accountants on professional indemnity claims.
In his spare time, Jonathan is a General Commissioner of Income Tax and relaxes by playing the violin and participating in various sporting activities, in particular running (including the London Marathon). He has a particular affinity with France, partly because he is married to a French lawyer. He has three children.
JANE RYLAND
Jane Ryland is a partner and head of construction at regional law firm Cripps Harries Hall LLP based in Tunbridge Wells (www.crippslaw.com). Cripps has a strong reputation particularly in real estate where it is known for its development, property portfolio, public sector, projects, planning & environment and property litigation work.
Jane joined Cripps in 2001 from Laytons, Bristol where she was a partner. She specialises in both non-contentious and contentious construction matters. On the non-contentious side types of work currently being undertaken include regeneration projects, development agreements, contract amendments, JV advice, collateral warranties and bonds. On the dispute resolution side the construction team handle court work, arbitration, adjudication and other forms of ADR as well as general negotiation to achieve economic settlements wherever possible. Jane is a construction adjudicator on the CIArb and TeCSA panels and is currently undergoing arbitration pupillage. As well as being a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Jane belongs to the Association of Women in Property, TeCSA, the Adjudication Society and the Society of Construction Law.
Jane attended Taunton School in Somerset before going on to read law at Queens' College, Cambridge. She is keen on outdoor pursuits and enjoys walking and gardening. She coaches and plays for the Cripps netball team. She is also the mother of 18 month old twins.
MURRAY ARMES
After graduating in architecture from Sheffield University in 1981 I worked for a number of large commercial practices both in the UK, Middle East and Hong Kong. In 1991 I set up my own practice in London just in time to for the recession. Despite this the practice grew for the next ten years, until I took the decision to move out of London. Despite the prophets of doom many of our London clients still remain with us and I also have a good portfolio of more local work as well.
I completed the MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration at King's College, London in 2003 and this is where my real interest in dispute resolution was formed. Nonetheless, I have always held the view that disputes in construction projects are not inevitable. In fact, of the several hundred projects I have personally been involved in just two have given rise to disputes. The key to this, I believe, is the careful selection of the right team that will produce an appropriate package of information that is then properly built.
I am currently a member of the Institute and carrying out my pupillage and I am actively working as an expert witness. I have also undertaken training in adjudication and Dispute Review Boards and I am a member of the Dispute Review Board Foundation.
I would like to see increased attendance at our branch meetings and a more progressive approach to training, to allow the next generation of practitioners to be made ready.