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.
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.
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.
Accounting Firm The accounting firm engaged by the Company for general tax purposes as of the day prior to the Change in Control will perform the calculations set forth in Section 10(a). If the firm so engaged by the Company is serving as the accountant or auditor for the acquiring company, the Company will appoint a nationally recognized accounting firm to make the determinations required hereunder. The Company will bear all expenses with respect to the determinations by such firm required to be made hereunder. The accounting firm engaged to make the determinations hereunder will provide its calculations, together with detailed supporting documentation, to the Company within 30 days before the consummation of a Change in Control (if requested at that time by the Company) or such other time as requested by the Company. If the accounting firm determines that no Excise Tax is payable with respect to a Payment, either before or after the application of the Reduced Amount, it will furnish the Company with documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company that no Excise Tax will be imposed with respect to such Payment. Any good faith determinations of the accounting firm made hereunder will be final, binding and conclusive upon the Company and Executive.