news
December 2009
We wish all of Core’s friends and readers a very happy Christmas
and a healthy and sustainable new year!
This year, we are sending a donation to the Bethany Trust to
support its excellent work with the homeless.
Some Core Highlights of 2009
Mediations
Mediation
has developed its own rhythm now and the frequency of repeat users means
that the nature of our work is often different from those pioneering days of
the early years of the decade. It is easier to get down to the nub of the
issues and parties and advisers tend to come even better prepared
and able to engage in well structured and effective negotiations.
Most
mediations are completed within one day with only a few enduring into the late
evening. For those for whom mediation is an innovation and who need to know
more before deciding, our without commitment initial discussions
continue to provide confidence and information.
While
the recession inevitably brings with it a slow down of commercial
activity, we have seen a number of significant construction-related
disputes come to mediation in 2009 and also those with banking or financial
services components. Cases of alleged professional negligence and otherwise
arising out of professional services remain prominent, while
difficulties in the workplace have led to an increase in structured multi-layered
employment mediation. Disappointment over earn out provisions in company
acquisitions can lead to complex and uncertain disputes which have been
ideal for mediation.
We
expect 2010 to see mediation in a greater number of corporate and
professional disputes as clients, insurers, contractors and others look for cost
effective and quick solutions. And we believe that more and more
organisations will deploy mediation as they seek to preserve
relationships and manage the downside risks of prolonged antagonism at
work.
Training
This
was an outstanding year for our flagship mediation and conflict management
training courses with a record uptake in our autumn course and a very well
received launch of our in-house equivalent.
Participants
in these courses come from a variety of senior positions and they find that the
cross-sectoral business and professional mix works really well. Networking
connections are easily made, with commerce, health, local government, oil
and gas, planning, banking, law, sport, and many other sectors being
represented.
Click
here to read about our Spring
2010 course which is already well over half full and here to read our brochure.
We
continued to work with large and small organisations, public sector bodies,
governments and parliaments, with visits to Jersey, Guernsey, London and
elsewhere, to add to those within Scotland.
Major Events
Undoubtedly
the highlight of the year was the visit of Harvard’s William Ury, who
made such a strong impact in the Parliament, with business leaders, with faith
groups and in his powerful Master Class at The Hub.
This
was followed by a second visit by another good friend from the States, Ken
Cloke, who also engaged at the highest levels and made a deep impression,
not least at the historic conference on conflict resolution involving the
churches in Scotland.
We
also welcomed Michael Leathes to a dinner of IP specialists, and were
privileged to speak at or be involved in several conferences in London,
Edinburgh, New York, Copenhagen, Dundee, Dublin, Glasgow and elsewhere.
Our
Multi-Party Dialogue workshops, most recently in early December, were
enthusiastically received.
Other highlights
Prior
to the Copenhagen COP 15 climate change summit, John Sturrock was
privileged to facilitate discussions involving business and civic society
leaders in response to the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Delivery
Plan. He then chaired a Scottish Government event in Copenhagen at which
Scotland presented its plans to create a low carbon economy.
Click
here and here to read John’s articles in
The Scotsman during the conference, during which he and Charlie Woods also
attended the Mediators Beyond Borders meetings.
Also
this year, John Sturrock was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the
International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and received an award as Mediator
of the Year. Pamela Lyall attended the IAM conference in London and featured in
the UK listing of mediators in Chambers Guide along with John Sturrock,
who was again named in Band 1.
Both
Pam and John were among the founding mediators listed in the International
Mediation Institute directory. Charlie Woods addressed a number of
conferences following Core’s involvement in drafting the Scottish Government’s
Guide to the Use of Mediation in Planning in Scotland and Hugh Donald was
prominent in mediation workshops at the churches conference. Calum Macneill QC
and Judith Scott were well received as mediators this year.
And finally
Today,
we discovered this photograph of HMS Mediator built in Leith!
Please
feel free to forward this newsletter to colleagues who may be interested in it.
To access
Core’s news page, click here.
For more
information about Core's activities and to view older editions of Core News,
please visit our website at:
If you
wish to have your name removed from our subscription list for Core News, please
let us know by emailing a message to Core.