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

01 August, 2023
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

The UK will join the Singapore Convention – so what now?

06 March, 2023
Following the UK government’s announcement last week that it will sign and ratify the Singapore Convention, many UK and foreign businesses are now turning their minds to what that means for international commercial disputes with a UK connection. The UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation establishes a global framework for the direct … Read more

High Court finds “without prejudice” statements contained in mediation paper were admissible to defend against allegation of fraud

08 June, 2020
The High Court has held that statements made in a “without prejudice” mediation paper were admissible as they were to be used to rebut allegations of fraud, by showing that the claimants had known about, and approved, the transactions said to constitute the alleged fraud: Berkeley Square Holdings v Lancer Property Asset Management Ltd [2020] … Read more

Court of Appeal rejects claim to without prejudice or litigation privilege in communications incorporated into settlement agreement

10 December, 2019
A recent Court of Appeal decision has highlighted the need to exercise caution when referring to privileged material in settlement agreements. The court held that the claimant was not entitled to withhold from inspection communications that had been incorporated into a settlement agreement with one of five defendants. That was despite the fact that, at … Read more

High Court finds parties agreed to vary application of “without prejudice” rule in subsequent “without prejudice save as to costs” correspondence

03 May, 2019
The High Court has held that correspondence marked “without prejudice save as to costs” and which described the conduct of prior “without prejudice” (WP) negotiations (including a mediation and subsequent discussions) was admissible in an application for costs against the claimant’s lawyers: Willers v Joyce & Ors [2019] EWHC 937 (Ch). The court accepted that … Read more

Brexit: UK unwinds implementation of EU ADR laws

19 March, 2019
Jan O’Neill Professional Support Lawyer, London   The UK Government has published legislation to effectively revoke the implementation of the EU Mediation Directive (2008/52/EC) after Brexit. The Cross-Border Mediation (EU Directive) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the Regulations) were made on 1 March 2019 and will come into effect on exit day, whenever that occurs. Why? The development … Read more

Article published – Discussing settlement options: minding the gap between litigation privilege and the without prejudice rule

22 January, 2019
A recent Court of Appeal decision has given rise to concern regarding the extent to which litigation privilege is available to protect an organisation’s internal deliberations on its settlement options in a dispute. In WH Holding Ltd v E20 Stadium LLP [2018] EWCA Civ 2652 (outlined here) the Court found that litigation privilege applies only to documents … Read more

Article published – ADR reform: one size does not fit all

20 March, 2018
On 6 March, the Civil Justice Council held a workshop to discuss the recommendations made in its interim report on ADR, which was subject to consultation late last year. The interim report addresses concerns regarding a perceived underuse of ADR within some sections of the civil justice system and suggests a variety of possible corrective measures. The … Read more