LAWFUEL – Press Release Service – Commercial mediations often involve legal issues. Should these be tested or should the Mediator focus solely on the parties’ business interests? Do non lawyer Mediators help reduce the risk that the mediation will be over lawyered? Is it a job of the Mediator to help the parties explore the legal issues? Who is best able to communicate with the parties and their legal advisors? Who is best able to evaluate all the different risks involved in the underlying dispute? What kind of Mediator do the parties want?
These were topics hotly debated in the third in a series of debates hosted by SJ Berwin LLP and The Panel of Independent Mediators on Tuesday 13 June. For the resolution were Stephen Ruttle Q.C, Brick Court Chambers and Nicholas Pryor, Independent Commercial Mediator. Against the resolution were David Richbell, Independent Commercial Mediator and Andrew Acland, Conflict analyst, mediator and facilitator. The moderator was David Miles, Partner, Glovers.
David Shapiro, Chairman of the Panel of Independent Mediators says “Very strong arguments were given both for and against the resolution. The role of the non lawyer mediator plays a very important part in bringing a dispute to a satisfactory conclusion for both parties.“
The floor overwhelming voted against the resolution.
