I hope you all have had a good holiday from the stresses and strains of the normal daily grind. Alas, it is now back to reality. Hopefully the S E Branch can enliven the darker days of the autumn and winter with new and exciting events.

The Branch Surgery is due to take place on 7 October at Croydon College and a full report will be in the next edition of News & Views, hopefully with photographs.

Our new President, Nael Bunni, will be available at the Branch Meeting on 19 September, an ideal opportunity to ask questions relating to the Institute in particular, and arbitration in general.

The highlight of this session will be the Annual Dinner at the Old Ship in Brighton, where we will have two speakers: Paul Jenson Barrister, Arbitrator and Chairman of the Professional Committee, and a surprise speaker.

Details of all these events are provided under ‘Trailers’ and there is a reply slip for the Old Ship. Numbers are limited so please book as early as possible.

Derek Jerram has decided to retire from the Editorial Team due to an overload of other commitments. The Committee, and in particular myself as News & Views Editor, would like to thank Derek for his hard and diligent work over the years. News & Views will miss his regular contributions.

You will see that there is a considerable amount on case law in this issue, first of all a précis of Geoffrey Brewer’s very enlightening talk on 13 June, and then our regular section on law summaries by Derek Jerram. These cases are very important to practising arbitrators and adjudicators, who need to be up-to-date, and we hope to continue this trend with contributions from Members.

Eur Ing David A Bailey

Chairman, South East Branch