An agreed rate of damages paid by the contractor to the employer for a particular breach of contract—most commonly delay to completion of the works (usually a rate per day or week of delay). Other types of LADs include performance LADs and target internal area LADs.

Laminar Air Flow

Leveraged buy-out; a buy-out of a business by a financial sponsor where the transaction is partially financed with debt.

Licence Condition, see Site Licence

Law360, London: The group of co-conspirators who ran London Capital & Finance (LC&F) like a Ponzi scheme must repay the administrators of the collapsed investment fund more than £180m, after a judge said on 13 December 2024 that the full amount of the fraud will likely never be recovered.

Law360, London: The administrators of Ponzi scheme bond company London Capital & Finance (LC&F) have sued a payments processing business, accusing it of negligently allowing more than £20m to be diverted from LC&F to the defunct investment firm's former directors and others.

Context The London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (‘LCAM’) has worked in conjunction with Immunefi, a blockchain security platform, to create the LCAM Blockchain Expedited Arbitration Rules(the ‘Rules’), a bespoke arbitral scheme tailored to the needs of participants in the security vulnerability market. Immunefi is an online platform which connects blockchain projects with security researchers and provides tools to manage security testing, disclosing vulnerabilities they discover, so that hacks can be averted. If these security researchers (also known as ‘whitehat hackers’) identify qualifying on-chain vulnerabilities, they may claim a payment known as a ‘bug bounty’, with posted payments running up to multimillion-dollar bounties. Bug bounty disputes arise in this context when there are disagreements between a blockchain project and a security researcher in relation to the security research carried out on the project. These disputes can arise in a number of ways, including in relation to the disputed existence of the reported security vulnerability, disagreement

The London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM) has announced that its Deputy Chair Rebecca Warder will speak at London International Disputes Week (LIDW) 2025. The panel event, 'Tech-Driven Arbitration: Navigating Disputes in the Web3 Era,' scheduled for 4 June 2025 at The Shard, will examine expedited arbitration procedures, including LCAM's new Blockchain Expedited Arbitration Rules. The discussion will cover technology dispute arbitration and technology use in arbitration processes, with speakers from various international legal organisations.

Background Several arbitral institutions and indeed even the UNCITRAL have in recent years developed expedited or fast track rules for low value disputes and for parties looking to avoid a lengthy arbitration process. Typically, these rules provide for the arbitral process to be conducted on a truncated timeline with a final award to be rendered within three or six months of commencement. For a general discussion on Expedited Rules, see Practice Note: Expedited (aka fast-track) arbitration. This note considers LCAM’s Expedited Arbitration Rules (the Expedited Rules), which have been in force since 1 September 2022, see Practice Note: LCIA (2020)—guidance on creation of a fast-track procedure. As Article 1.2 of the Expedited Rules state, they entail ‘…a complete stand-alone documents-only procedure for the resolution of disputes through arbitration by a sole arbitrator appointed by LCAM. The procedure administered by LCAM under the Rules is intended to be simple, expedited and cost effective’. The LCAM Expedited Rules stand out from the crowd in the following respects:

The London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM) and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) have launched a survey on costs in mediation and arbitration. The survey is open to those participating in arbitration or mediation, mediators, in-house counsel and external counsel, and asks about their experiences of costs-related issues. The survey closes on 31 July 2024.

The London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM) has unveiled its new Blockchain Expedited Arbitration Rules, which came into force on 9 December 2024. These rules are specifically designed to facilitate efficient and cost-effective resolution of complex web3 technology disputes. Key features include a documents-only procedure with a sole arbitrator, provisions for both on-chain and off-chain enforcement utilising Immunefi's Vault system and London as the seat of arbitration with proceedings held electronically. The rules also incorporate confidentiality provisions, specific clauses for digital assets and identity details and allow for counterclaims and multi-party disputes subject to Board approval. This innovative approach aims to address the unique challenges posed by blockchain-related disputes in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

We are delighted that LCAM was part of a winning nomination, alongside Greenberg Traurig and Immunefi, at the European Legal Innovation and Technology Awards in the ‘Outstanding Collaboration’ category for our collective efforts in producing LCAM’s Blockchain Expedited Arbitration Rules.