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
