I am pleased to announce that I am supporting the charity Will Aid. This national charity encourages solicitors to waive their fees for writing wills – instead the client makes a donation to the charity. In 2010 the generosity of solicitors and their clients helped to raise £1.5 million. With the money raised Will Aid…
Should mediators help tax collectors?
As you can imagine I am never far away from a copy of the Tax Journal which is how I came to learn about a the HMRC launch of an alternative dispute resolution scheme for SMEs. The HMRC’s dispute resolution pilot is running upto July 2011 aiming … … to improve our understanding of SME…
Limitation period to be suspended during mediation.
One of the proposals in the recent government consultation Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system is designed to encourage the use of mediation even when the limitation period is about to expire. At that point one would normally issue proceedings to protect the client’s position. It can…
3 simple steps to planning a negotiation
Fail to plan … Most lawyers at mediation settlement meetings of money claims thoroughly prepare their cases. They have been dealing with the it for months if not years and know it backwards. However, there is one thing many neglect to prepare and plan for - how they are going to negotiate. A surprising number…
Compulsory mediation – have your say.
The government’s consultation on reforming the court procedure (Government consults on mandatory mediation step) to include some elements of compulsory mediation ends on the last day of this month. You can respond to the consultation via the Ministry of Justice website or you can join me and other interested/outraged/apathetic (delete as appropriate) parties in a…
Can mediators be summonsed to give evidence?
My standard mediation agreement states: The Parties will not summons or subpoena or otherwise require the Mediator, any co-Mediator or any other person attending the Mediation to assist the Mediator to testify or produce records, notes or any other information or material whatsoever in any future or continuing proceedings. But what if you want to…
Mediation information and assessment sessions
The government has proposed to introduce a new step in the civil litigation procedure – mediation information and assessment sessions – which will apply to all non-small claims track cases valued at under £100,000 ( see Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system consultation paper from the MoJ)….
Are mediation settlements binding?
Most mediation agreements (the contract governing the mediation) state that any agreed settlement is binding only when written and signed by the parties. Provided the settlement is drafted correctly (and this is the job of any solicitors/barristers attending) then it will be enforceable. Where court proceedings have already been commenced the standard practice is to…
Government consults on mandatory mediation step
The Ministry of Justice has launched another consultation which includes proposals to introduce a mandatory pre-proceedings mediation information and assessment stage. The consultation is called Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system. There are 3 key proposals, the first is a long term goal which will require primary…
Episode 2 : Mediation “the only real route to justice”
I am delighted to welcome David Richbell as my guest in this episode. David is a commercial mediator with nearly 20 years experience. He is highly regarded in the profession and well known for his training provided through MATA. David has previously written an article Do you need a specialist mediator for my blog. We…
