News

Best and final offers are a useful device in a mediation when the negotiations appear to be reaching an impasse. But the device needs to be used with caution. If it is used too early in the mediation, and the offers are a long way apart, a barrier to further...

It is often said that a failure to mediate will lead to a costs sanction and that a refusal to respond to a request to mediate is automatically unreasonable based upon what Arnold LJ said in Northamber Plc v Genee World Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 428. But is this right? The...

Congratulations to Matthew Marsh who has been ranked Band 1 in the newly released Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2025 for Trusts Mediators (UK-wide), reflecting both the depth of his legal acumen and the confidence clients and peers have in his abilities. The Chambers...

The judgment of Miles J in DKH Retail Ltd & Ors v City Football Group Ltd [2024] EWHC 3231 (Ch) is an example of how the courts are getting tougher about imposing mediation. The case was a trade mark dispute in which the core issue identified by the judge was...

“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,...

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 &...

Stephen answers some common questions that people ask about mediation.

Stephen considers recent cases dealing with the costs consequences of alleged failures to mediate.

Stephen considers the judgment of Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Barber in Invenia v Hudson [2024] EWHC 1302 (Ch), which analysed the cost consequences of an alleged failure by the successful party to mediate. 

James considers how early mediation can save the participants money and effort, and even get a settlement nailed down before the return date on an interim injunction.