Lord Justice Briggs’ CCSR: Interim Report – The Digitised Future

Or, ‘It’s Litigation, but not as we know it’. The Civil Courts Structure Review (CCSR), being conducted by Lord Justice Briggs is currently in a further phase of consultation. The Interim Report, already thorough, presents a picture of the potentially digitised future where courts are paperless, lawyers less evident and ADR still exists.

Refuse to mediate? “How very dare you”.

“How dare you suggest mediation?? Why should I? Don’t you know the other side is blatantly in the wrong?” This is what parties in dispute sometimes say. The hike in court fees hasn’t necessarily made mediation more appealing. The Court is however continuing to communicate its disapproval of a party’s conduct where it ignores or refuses a request to mediate. Master Simons made […]

PGF applied again – Don’t ignore a request to mediate!

In a case for rent arrears of £6,000 and other claims on both sides, the legal costs amounted to £100,000 on one side and £85,000 on the other (NJ Rickard Ltd v Holloway & ors, CA (Civ Div) 03/11/15 unreported).  The word disproportionate springs to mind.

When to mediate? It’s a judgment call

So says HHJ Pelling QC in Orientfield Holdings Ltd v Bird & Bird LLP  [2015] EWHC 1963 (Ch). When and on what basis an approach is made by one party to another to mediate is a judgment call. In this particular case there was an issue whether the failure to mediate may constitute a breach of the […]

Agreeing not to meet in mediation

Many disputes, suitable for mediation, are over the ownership of land and use of and access to space. Boundaries which aren’t agreed, communal areas accommodating diverse interests, levels of noise between proximate buildings all trigger strong emotional responses. The people on either side of the fence – literally – perhaps disputing the height of the […]

ODR and ADR – Are we ready?

The ways in which we choose to communicate have expanded. People used to meet to speak and physically walk into a shop to buy goods. Now the  telephone means voices are heard without faces and the internet allows us to shop from wherever we are. How easy though is it to resolve a dispute after an online […]

Refuse mediation? Be prepared to pay

Liz Davies illustrates how refusing to mediate is frowned upon by judges and can lead to an indemnity costs order. Yet again, party punished for refusing mediation. In Garritt-Critchley & others v Ronnan, Solarpower PV Ltd [2014] EWHC 1774 (Ch), HHJ Waksman QC ordered indemnity costs against the Defendants because of the Defendant’s refusal to […]