I attended the first international conference held by the ADR Group in June 2014. The keynote speaker was Professor Robert Mnookin, of Harvard Law School, addressing the conference on issues relating to mediation and dispute resolution. The event was attended by a number of UK mediators as well as over 200 delegates from Greece, including […]

Lord Justice Briggs in the Court of Appeal case of PGF II SA v OFMS Company 1 Limited gave further clear guidance as to the perils of ignoring an opponent’s offer to mediate a case – and made comments that should give all litigators food for thought. In PGF one party made a proposal to […]

There has been recent news of a commitment to alternative dispute resolution by a number of the UK’s biggest companies including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, TNT and Virgin Media. The signatories agree to commit their resources to managing and resolving disputes through negotiation, mediation and other ADR processes. Other companies such as BP, Microsoft, IBM […]

To what extent can a refusal to engage in mediation, or another form of ADR, result in a costs penalty? Usually, a successful party in litigation will normally recover the majority of its costs from the losing party. However, the Court has a discretion in awarding costs, and “unreasonable behaviour” can result in a loss […]

It can sometimes be the case that you can see potential for the parties to explore resolution of a dispute by mediation, but the other party is reluctant to do so. If that happens, what could you do to try and encourage mediation? It obviously helps to try and find out why the opponent is […]