Mediation receives warm support from Lord Justice Jackson
In England, Lord Justice Jackson’s Final Report in his Costs Review in England has been published. He has expressed very favourable comments on mediation and writes about the value of mediation in appropriate cases.
He finds that mediation as the principal method of ADR should be at the heart of every litigator’s toolkit. He believes that mediation should actually be more widely attempted prior to litigation. He also calls for much greater education of the general public, court users, lawyers, businesses, and judges of the benefits of mediation.
His report recommends that a neutrally published handbook of ADR and mediation should find its way in an annual edition to every lawyer’s, businesses’ and judge’s bookshelf so that information of reputable providers, processes and procedures should be readily available to all. He suggests greater use of Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE), telephone mediation and specialist professionals, particularly in personal injury litigation where the confidence of the market is still to be won. Click here to read the summary prepared by the Civil Mediation Council along with extracts from the report.