Best Practice in Construction Disputes is, however, no mere diatribe on the ills of traditional dispute resolution techniques. Rather, the text offers a toolkit allowing the time-worn model to be taken apart and then reconstructed into a modern and efficient vehicle for dispute avoidance and resolution.

Immediately upon opening the text, one realises that its authors are passionate about engaging with their audience in the best way possible to stimulate learning and debate. The text is replete with colour, diagrams, graphs, cartoons, quotations from the likes of Edison, Darwin and Einstein (as well as a number of lawyers) and even a QR Code which takes readers online to a detailed summary chart. That said, it also is packed with references to the leading texts, articles and cases on the relevant areas being covered, making the text an academically-rigorous treasure trove for researchers and practitioners alike.

Readers of the ICLR are unlikely to be surprised by this approach given who the authors are. Dr Gerber has more than 25 years of international experience in construction law practice and academia and brings a strong human rights focus to her teaching and research in the area. Her pioneering advocacy of the benefits of dispute avoidance procedures (DAPs) – including an article in this Journal in 20011 – dates back well over a decade. As well as undertaking a PhD in the area and co-authoring several articles on DAPs with Dr Gerber, Mr Ong has been instrumental in the creation of the RedCrest electronic case management system which is being rolled out in the Supreme Court of Victoria2.

It is readily apparent, therefore, that the text is designed to inform and persuade. It does this not only through its words and other devices, but also via a clear structure which leads the reader from the “causes and nature