The UK government recently published a report announcing a wide range of far-reaching changes to the UK competition and consumer protection regulatory regimes, following a consultation last year. The key reforms are examined on our Competition Notes blog, here.  Below, we highlight a less prominent aspect of the report, regarding the role of ADR services … Read more

A trend toward combining alternative dispute resolution processes (typically mediation and arbitration) is gaining traction internationally and is being particularly driven in Asia by the Belt and Road Initiative. With China at the heart of the Belt and Road, a more consensus-driven approach to dispute resolution, reflecting Asian values and promoting mediation, looks set to … Read more

Peter Frost, Partner in our London office, has published a post on our Employment Notes blog reviewing the current and potential use of ADR in employment disputes.  The post, which was first published in the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) Briefing March 2019, can be accessed here. As we have previously reported, Peter has co-chaired various reports on … Read more

Jan O’Neill Professional Support Lawyer, London   The Civil Justice Council’s ADR working group has released its final report on ADR and Civil Justice, following consultation on its interim report released last year. The broad mandate of the review was “to maintain the search for the right relationship between civil justice and ADR” and to … Read more

The Herbert Smith Freehills employment team has published a briefing examining the role of ADR within employment disputes, including considering the findings outlined in the recently released Global Pound Conference Report in the context of employment disputes in the key jurisdictions of Australia, France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The briefing discusses the availability – … Read more

The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) has issued a report examining the potential for greater use to be made of ADR in employment disputes. The report was prepared by an ELA working group, co-chaired by Peter Frost, partner in Herbert Smith Freehills’ employment team in London, and Paul Goulding QC.   It considers the current and potential use of various … Read more

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has gained huge momentum of late, with governments, companies and lawyers keen to maximise the many opportunities it presents. The resolution of disputes arising from the BRI is no exception. The sheer complexity and scale of BRI projects is prompting a welcome review of dispute resolution processes, with a … Read more

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has concluded that national legislation imposing mandatory mediation as a pre-condition to litigation is not precluded by the EU ADR legislative framework, provided that the parties are not prevented from exercising their rights of access to the judicial system.   However, to the extent that such a pre-condition required consumers to be assisted … Read more