mediation
news
February
2005
“I wish we had known about Core
Mediation two years ago, but better late than never. We were very impressed with their
service, and by the constructive and imaginative way in which we were able to
resolve the matters we were working on.
Not only was it great value, in terms of both time and money, but we are
now free to refocus on the needs of the business going
forward.”
(Martin A Cooke, Group Company
Secretary, The Edrington Group Limited)
“The
fair and expeditious resolution of [complex] cases often is helped along by
creative solutions – solutions that simply are not available in the binary
framework of traditional adversarial litigation. Mediation with the assistance of a
skilled facilitator gives parties an opportunity to explore a much wider range
of options, including those that go beyond conventional zero-sum
resolutions.”
(US
Court of Appeal for the First Circuit in In Re: Atlantic Pipe Corp,
September 2002)
Conference Action
Points
Following
Core’s well attended conference in November last year, we have drawn together a
number of action points to take mediation forward on the theme of “Expanding
Mediation in Business, Organisations and the Professions.”
To
view these action points for mediation generally and for specific sectors please
click here.
Core Mediations
pass 50 mark
“So
things are now beginning to move.
Mediation has been proved to work as an effective tool to resolve
disputes.”
(Mair Combes Davies “Talking about a revolution” Legal Week
13 January 2005)
Over
the past two years, Core Mediation has conducted over 40 mediations in the
commercial, professional services and public sector fields. Added to those in the first two years as
the business was being established, the total is now over 50. The majority have taken place in the
past year. This underscores the
steady growth in the use of this process to assist people and businesses to find
speedy and practical solutions to differences. It also signifies the growing experience
and expertise of Core as
Nearly
all of our mediations produce a satisfactory outcome. The range of topics is as
wide as the range of activity in business and organisations. Employment, senior
management issues, commercial contracts, professional negligence claims and
building and construction matters remain prominent. There is increasing interest
in the personal injury field and we expect to see a number of these in coming
months. Users come from the public and
private sectors, from small enterprises to large PLCs.
Solicitors
from across
·
Click here to
read an expanded version of this article and here
to view examples of mediation in which Core Mediation has been
involved.
·
Click here
to view the volume of use by law firms and organisations and
here
to view the breakdown of subject matter.
·
Click here
for more comments from users.
Sir David Edward
joins Core Panel
Sir
David Edward QC,
formerly British judge in the European
Court of Justice, and now an accredited mediator, is a most welcome and
special addition to the Core panel of mediators as an independent mediator. As
one of the most distinguished lawyers of a generation, Sir David’s decision to
become a mediator is a fascinating indication of how things are
changing.
Others
in the team offer considerable value to clients. Carol Paton and Hugh Donald have years of experience in
organisational and management matters; Alastair Kelly and Alastair Thornton are leaders in the
field of professional services;
Click here
for more information about our highly experienced team of mediators and
facilitators and here
to read our new brochure detailing
Core’s portfolio of services.
Mediation
Training
There
are just a few places left on our next Mediation Training course. We have
participants from both branches of the legal profession, from the corporate and
banking worlds and from the public sector.
The
dates are 21-24 March and, for those who wish to
undertake the assessment stage (leading to the Core Certificate of Competence in
basic mediation skills), 13-15
April.
Participants
in our most recent course had this to say:
“This is an excellently
constructed and delivered course which delivers what was set out in the
syllabus.”
“I believe much of what I have
discovered… is exportable to other fields of professional practice and indeed
human interactivity.”
“I think that it would
be fair to say that with the course comes a certain degree of self analysis
which probably very few adults who lead busy lives have very much opportunity to
think about on a daily or even annual basis.”
“Mediation training was
one of the most challenging and illuminating experiences I have undergone since
qualifying as a solicitor.”
Click here
for course details and here to contact Lynne
Davies
for more information or to register.
Other Forthcoming
Core Events
·
Breakfast
Business:
07.45 – 09.30
Friday 18 March 2005
Personal Injury
·
Master
Class:
17.30 – 19.15
Wednesday 13 April
2005
The Role of
Acknowledgment, Regret and Apology in Mediation
Click
here
to contact Lynne
Davies
for more information or to register.
·
In-house
Mediation, Negotiation and Conflict Management Courses
Core works extensively
with clients in-house, tailoring courses and training to specific needs and
aspirations. We are delighted to
discuss possibilities and requirements at any time. Contact John
Sturrock for more
information.
Court
Expenses
In
light of the Halsey decision in England (click here
to read the report and here
for a commentary) and the introduction of revised rules in Commercial Actions in
the Court of Session, it seems increasingly likely that a court in Scotland will
be invited to determine a question on the matter of expenses where a party has
suggested mediation and another party has declined. Where mediation may often
offer the prospect of an earlier and less expensive route to settlement than
protracted negotiations or a court hearing, and with increasing use and
availability of good mediators, courts in
“In
the
…Lawyers
also have an incentive in that the judges are refusing to award costs unless the
parties can demonstrate they have seriously attempted to resolve the
dispute.”
(Mair Combes Davies “Talking about a revolution” Legal Week
13 January 2005)
Current
Developments
·
The
EU draft directive provides very
encouraging impetus to the growth of mediation across the continent. In
particular, it makes clear that mediation should stand alone as a valuable
process in its own right, not just as an alternative to others, and that it will
bring economic and social benefits to individuals and businesses. Click here to
read the directive and here
to read
·
The
Scottish Executive has established
a Dispute Resolution
and Tribunals Policy
Branch of the Civil Justice Division of the Justice Department under the
leadership of Lesley Napier and Bill Galbraith. The updated Executive booklet
“Resolving Disputes Without Going to Court” has recently been published. Click here to
view the online version.
·
The
Executive is currently consulting on its proposed pilot scheme in medical negligence
cases involving the NHS in
·
The
Scottish Legal Aid Board maintain their support for mediation in non-family civil
matters. The Board has revised its guidelines to cover solicitor participation
in mediation. Click here
for the up to date guidelines. In a
recent case, mediation achieved resolution in a difficult professional
negligence case, involving building professionals, which was due to proceed to a
proof in the Court of Session. The pursuers were legally aided.
·
Core’s
Law Firm Policy Statement: at least
one firm has now formally adopted the statement. Click here
to view.
·
The
next Scottish Mediation Network
conference takes place on March 3 and 4. Contact toni@scottishmediation.org.uk for details.
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Our
opportunity is to transform the culture of conflict from coercion and
confrontation to consensus and cooperation