by James Gibbons | Jun 18, 2025 | News
“It is generally better to deal by speech than by letter” (Essay ‘Of Negotiating’, 1625, Francis Bacon) Letter writing may have become a dying art in this digital age, certainly on a personal basis; and training in the art in the legal profession is perhaps, at best,...
by James Gibbons | Feb 12, 2025 | News
In November 2023 in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1416 the Court of Appeal decided that the Court had power to order parties to engage in non-court based dispute resolution (ADR). With effect from 1 October 2024, CPR 1.4, 3.1 &...
by Stephen Baister | Sep 11, 2024 | News
Can I be forced to mediate? The short answer is no, not at the moment, although the courts are increasingly strong in recommending mediation and may punish a party in costs if that party unreasonably refuses to engage in mediation. It is likely to become compulsory in...
by Stephen Baister | Sep 11, 2024 | News
While the debate goes on as to whether, or when, mediation will become compulsory before going to trial, the case law lurches this way and that when it comes to reflecting in costs orders the court’s displeasure at failing to engage properly with ADR. Three recent...
by Stephen Baister | Sep 11, 2024 | News
ICC Judge Barber’s judgment in Invenia Technical Computing Corporation & Anor v Matthew Hudson [2024] EWHC 1302 (Ch) deals with costs issues arising out of a number of related applications including a successful one by Invenia to restrain the presentation of a...
by James Gibbons | Sep 11, 2024 | News
On two occasions recently where Claimants have successfully obtained interim injunctive relief against departing employees allegedly in breach of post termination restrictive covenants, settlement by mediation has been achieved within a fortnight. And well before any...
