Musings of a busy mind

It has become a truism that liquidated damages are enforceable, and will not offend the rule against penalties, if they represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss undertaken at the time the contract is entered into.

That position was modified significantly last month by the Court of Appeal.

It's 5 years since Sir David Williams QC, Deborah Hart and I sat down to dinner with then Attorney-General, Hon Christopher Finlayson QC, to discuss the benefits of promoting New Zealand as a destination for international arbitration, and the amendments we would like to the Arbitration Act 1996.

Finally, this evening, the Bill has been passed into law - with some amendment, it has to be said, but passed into law it has. Nice to be credited in Andrew Bayly MP's opening comments. It's not every day you get noted in Hansard!

The challenge for most boat builders, even at the super yacht level, is to establish an efficient process for manufacturing well designed production boats which meet a market demand.

So, when you have established your ideal production boat, how do you deal with the "cease and desist" letter from the designer's lawyer?