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Legal disputes are often complex, heated, and costly. But what if there was a way to resolve these disputes that is more collaborative, effective, and based on mutual interests? Welcome, commercial lawyers, to the expansive world of mediation. As a commercial lawyer,...

Mediation is the most popular of a range of dispute resolution methods covered by ADR. The terminology here can be somewhat confusing. Some say that ADR stands for ‘alternative dispute resolution’ (ie, an alternative to traditional litigation and arbitration); others...

Following the handing down of the ground-breaking judgment by the Court of Appeal in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council on 29 November 2023, which removed a long-standing thorn in the side of mediation, positive developments continue to roll out at pace...

The overriding message is to listen rather than advocate. Advocate is what the lawyer does in litigation or arbitration – to present the client’s case in the best light. But in mediation it’s all about underlying interests. There is the apocryphal story of the orange...

Is there a professional body for mediators, and is it necessary to be accredited to describe oneself as a ‘mediator’? What are the key requirements to gain accreditation? Is continuing professional development compulsory, and what requirements are laid down? There is...

Courts and tribunals in England and Wales are not under a general express obligation to stay proceedings in favour of mediation. However, Rule 26.4(1)-(3) of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) provides that ‘a party may, when filing the completed directions...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the subject of much discussion in terms of its applicability to law. This paper focuses on the use of AI in copyright arbitration and dispute resolution for three-dimensional (3D) printing (3DP). Its main argument is that laws...

Following the handing down of judgment by the Court of Appeal in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (“Churchill”) on 29 November 2023, a long-standing thorn in the side of mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”), in the form...

Mediation is commonly understood to have about an 80 per cent (four out of every five cases) success rate on the day of the mediation itself and often, if not resolved on the day, enables the dispute to be settled shortly thereafter, the...