Over the past year, both the civil judiciary and the Ministry of Justice have made clear their shared policy aim of bringing about a paradigm shift in the civil justice system, to one in which the potential for ADR is embedded into court procedure and culture at all stages of the process (see, for example, … Read more

The LCAM-HSF survey on compulsory mediation closes for responses this Friday (11 March). Users of mediation, litigation and/or arbitration are invited to complete the short survey online here. We look forward to sharing the results and insights from the survey in due course. Read more

The last year has seen a notable increase in focus on the role of ADR in the English civil justice system, from both the judiciary and government. Amongst the various moving parts in what is becoming a crowded landscape of developments are: the Master of the Rolls’ vision for out-of-court resolution options to be fully … Read more

Recent Civil Justice Council proposals for reforms to the civil pre-action protocols (PAPs) have sparked some concern that, if they are intended to apply to commercial disputes via a default general protocol, they would represent a departure from current practice and a significantly more prescriptive approach. Amongst the more controversial suggestions is the introduction of … Read more

Following the success of the 2020 LCAM-HSF Mediation in Arbitration survey, we are delighted to announce that Herbert Smith Freehills is again joining with the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation to conduct a new study on attitudes to compulsory mediation in litigation and arbitration. Read more

The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has recommended a greater use of compulsory ADR within the civil courts of England and Wales. In particular, it has concluded that court-mandated ADR is not incompatible with Article 6 of the European Human Rights Convention (right to a fair trial) and is therefore lawful. That conclusion is contained in … Read more

In Wales (t/a Selective Investment Services) v CBRE Managed Services Ltd & Anor [2020] EWHC 1050 (Comm) (30 April 2020) (Wales), the High Court (the Court) disallowed a substantial part of a successful defendant’s costs as a result of its failure to engage in mediation. This is the latest decision in a number of recent … Read more

The High Court has imposed indemnity costs in two recent cases (DSN v Blackpool Football Club Ltd [2020] EWHC 670 (QB) and BXB v Watch Tower and Bible Tract Society of Pennsylvannia & Ors [2020] EWHC 656 (Admin)) as a result of a party’s unreasonable failure to engage in ADR. Read more