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Market the middle man

Martin Burns argues that greater promotion is the key to the future of mediation

Mediation is the latest thing: people have been saying this since the 1990s and we’re still waiting for the time when civil disputes are mediated routinely.
It’s not that there is a shortage of mediators. Some argue that training bodies should stop training mediators to stem the tide. Should they? The fact that there are too few mediations is not related to a shortage of disputes. There are many thousands of civil disputes each year which could be mediated. A senior member of the judiciary recently announced to a large audience of chartered surveyors and lawyers that in his entire career as a barrister and judge there were very few disputes which could not have been resolved through mediation.

It is common knowledge that students are still offered university placements even though there is a lack of graduate jobs. Law schools train barristers even though the numbers of opportunities to actually practice at the Bar are far less

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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