UK government confirms plans for compulsory mediation in the County Court and decides against statutory regulation of the mediation sector

The UK government has announced that it is proceeding with plans to introduce compulsory mediation as a mandatory procedural step in all Small Claims in the County Court.  All parties in cases allocated to the Small Claims track (ie most claims valued below £10,000) will be required to attend a free mediation appointment with a … Read more

CEDR Mediation Audit results: The post-pandemic state of civil mediation

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has released the results of its latest Mediation Audit, the first since the start of the pandemic. For the past 20 years, CEDR’s biennial surveys of mediators have provided a snapshot of civil and commercial mediation in the UK, identifying key trends and developments.  The latest survey received … Read more

Mandatory mediation: Insights from the LCAM-HSF survey

Herbert Smith Freehills recently partnered with the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM) to  survey a cross-section of the dispute resolution community on attitudes to compulsory mediation in arbitration and mediation. The results indicate that there seems to be support for some degree of mandatory mediation in both litigation and arbitration, but that effective … Read more

CEDR produces guide to investor-state mediation

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has released an investor-state Mediation Guide to assist lawyers and users of investor-state mediation with the process. HSF Partner Andrew Cannon, a member of CEDR’s advisory group of leading practitioners, contributed to the Guide. There have been a number of mediation-focused initiatives in the field of investor-state disputes … Read more

UK government report on responses to its Call for Evidence on ADR

The Ministry of Justice has published a Report summarising the responses it received to a Call for Evidence it issued in August last year. Although entitled a Call for Evidence on Dispute Resolution in England and Wales, the document was in fact focused on methods of resolving disputes apart from litigation –  including mediation, conciliation, … Read more