Independent Expert The Parties and the other signatories may, upon written agreement, resort to an independent expert in order to obtain a well-grounded opinion that may lead to the settlement of the dispute or controversy. In case such agreement is signed, arbitration may only be filed after issuance of the expert’s opinion.
Expert Subject to Clause 16.1, where any matter may be referred to an expert pursuant to Clause 11.2 or is required by this Agreement to be referred to an expert then except as otherwise provided for in this Agreement, the matter must be referred for determination by a person:
(a) who is appointed by the Parties, or in default of such appointment within ten (10) Business Days after either Party giving notice in writing to the other Party requiring the appointment of an expert then that person is to be nominated at either Party’s request by:
(i) if the Parties agree that the Dispute is of a financial nature, the President for the time being of CPA Australia;
(ii) if the Parties agree that the Dispute is of a non-financial nature, the President for the time being of the Engineers Australia – Queensland Division; and
(iii) in any other case, by the President for the time being of the Queensland Law Society Incorporated;
(b) who has appropriate qualifications and practical experience having regard to the nature of the Dispute;
(c) who has no interest or duty which conflicts or may conflict with his function as expert, he being required to fully disclose any such interest or duty by written notice to the Parties before his appointment;
(d) who is not an employee of the End User, any Operator or Aurizon Network or of a Related Body Corporate of any of them;
(e) who shall not be permitted to act until he has given written notice to both Parties that he is willing and able to accept the appointment;
(f) who shall have regard to the provisions of this Agreement and consider all submissions (including oral submissions by either Party provided that such oral submissions are made in the presence of the other Party), supporting documentation, information and data with respect to the matter submitted by the Parties or submitted by the Parties as soon as reasonably practicable at his request and who must provide both Parties with a copy of his determination in the form of a report within a reasonable time after his appointment;
(g) who shall be required to undertake to keep confidential all matters coming to his knowledge by reason of his appointment and performance of his duties;
(h) who shall be deemed to be and shall act as an expert and not an arbitrator and the law relating to arbitration (including, without limitation, the Commercial Arbitration Act 1990 (Qld)) shall not apply to him or his determination or the procedures by which he may reach his determination;
(i) whose decision, in the absence of manifest error, shall be final and binding upon the Parties; and
(j) whose costs (and the costs of any advisers to the expert) shall be borne by the Parties in equal shares with each Party bearing its own costs of participating in the dispute resolution process (unless otherwise agreed by the Parties). Any determination made by an expert must be consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.
Independent Accountant Xxxxxxxx LLP (the “Accountant”), which has expressed its opinions with respect to the audited financial statements (which term as used in this Agreement includes the related notes thereto) of the Company filed with the Commission as a part of the Registration Statement and included in the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Securities Act and the Exchange Act.
Fees and Expenses of Arbiters The aggregate fees and expenses of the arbiters shall be borne equally by the parties. The parties shall pay the aggregate fees and expenses within thirty (30) days after receipt of the written decision of the arbiters (unless the arbiters agree in writing on some other payment schedule). Exhibit 1
Expenses of Arbitrator Each Party shall pay one-half (½) of the fees and expenses of the Arbitrator.
Audit Dispute In the event of a dispute with respect to any audit conducted under Section 6.10.1, Xxxxxxx and Forest shall work in good faith to resolve the disagreement. If the Parties are unable to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of any such dispute within [*] days, the dispute shall be submitted for resolution to a certified public accounting firm jointly selected by each Party’s certified public accountants or to such other Person as the Parties shall mutually agree (the “Accountant”). The decision of the Accountant shall be final and the costs of such arbitration as well as the initial audit shall be borne between the Parties in such manner as the Accountant shall determine. If the Accountant concludes that additional payments were owed, or that excess payments were made during such period, then the Party owing such additional payments shall pay such additional amounts, or the Party that received such excess payments shall reimburse such excess payments, as applicable, in either case, within [*] days after the date on which such decision is made by the Accountant.
Arbitration Panel The arbitration panel shall consist of three arbitrators. The arbitrators must be impartial and must be or must have been officers of life insurance and or securities companies other than the parties or their affiliates.
Independent Auditors The Company shall, until at least the Termination Date, maintain as its independent auditors an accounting firm authorized to practice before the SEC.
Arbitrators (a) Within fifteen days after a valid Arbitration Demand Notice is given, the parties involved in the dispute, controversy or claim referenced therein shall attempt to select a sole arbitrator satisfactory to all such parties.
(b) If such parties are not able jointly to select a sole arbitrator within such fifteen-day period, such parties shall each appoint an arbitrator within thirty days after delivery of the Arbitration Demand Notice. If one party appoints an arbitrator within such time period and the other party or parties fail to appoint an arbitrator within such time period, the arbitrator appointed by the one party shall be the sole arbitrator of the matter.
(c) If a sole arbitrator is not selected pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) above and, instead, two or more arbitrators are selected pursuant to paragraph (b) above, the arbitrators shall, within thirty days after the appointment of the later of them to be appointed, select an additional arbitrator who shall act as the sole arbitrator of the dispute. After selection of such sole arbitrator, the initial arbitrators shall have no further role with respect to the dispute. In the event that the arbitrators so appointed do not, within thirty days after the appointment of the later of them to be appointed, agree on the selection of the sole arbitrator, any party involved in such dispute may apply to the American Arbitration Association to select the sole arbitrator, which selection shall be made by such organization within thirty days after such application. Any arbitrator selected pursuant to this paragraph (c) shall be disinterested with respect to any of the parties and the matter and shall be reasonably competent in the applicable subject matter.
(d) The sole arbitrator selected pursuant to paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above shall set a time for the hearing of the matter which will commence no later than ninety days after the date of appointment of the sole arbitrator pursuant to paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above and which hearing will be no longer than thirty days (unless in the judgment of the arbitrator the matter is unusually complex and sophisticated and thereby requires a longer time, in which event such hearing shall be no longer than ninety days). The final decision of such arbitrator will be rendered in writing to the parties not later than sixty days after the last hearing date, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing.
(e) The place of any arbitration hereunder will be New York, New York, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
Expert Determination If a Dispute relates to any aspect of the technology underlying the provision of the Goods and/or Services or otherwise relates to a financial technical or other aspect of a technical nature (as the Parties may agree) and the Dispute has not been resolved by discussion or mediation, then either Party may request (which request will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed) by written notice to the other that the Dispute is referred to an Expert for determination. The Expert shall be appointed by agreement in writing between the Parties, but in the event of a failure to agree within ten (10) Working Days, or if the person appointed is unable or unwilling to act, the Expert shall be appointed on the instructions of the relevant professional body. The Expert shall act on the following basis: he/she shall act as an expert and not as an arbitrator and shall act fairly and impartially; the Expert's determination shall (in the absence of a material failure to follow the agreed procedures) be final and binding on the Parties; the Expert shall decide the procedure to be followed in the determination and shall be requested to make his/her determination within thirty (30) Working Days of his appointment or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter and the Parties shall assist and provide the documentation that the Expert requires for the purpose of the determination; any amount payable by one Party to another as a result of the Expert's determination shall be due and payable within twenty (20) Working Days of the Expert's determination being notified to the Parties; the process shall be conducted in private and shall be confidential; and the Expert shall determine how and by whom the costs of the determination, including his/her fees and expenses, are to be paid.
