Mediation could save public purse

Local authorities are spending unnecessarily on legal costs by failing to use mediation in judicial reviews.

A report by Nabarro LLP, 39 Essex Street and ADR Group found that 97% of local authorities did not refer judicial reviews to mediation before court proceedings.

The report, The Effective Use of Mediation by Local Authorities in Judicial Review, published last week, found that while local authority decisions are increasingly being challenged in the courts, few lawyers appreciate how mediation could be used to save legal bills and valuable management time.

Gerard Khoshnaw, partner at Nabarro, says: “The findings of the report are timely given the current review of civil costs by His Honour Judge Jackson.

“This review is anticipated to recommend that cost awards be based upon the parties’ attempts to settle rather than the loser paying the winners costs. In some judicial review cases mediation may not be appropriate, but there are a large number of disputes where it could be used, for example, where there is the existence of a continuing relationship between the local authority and the other party or where confidentiality or speed are particularly important.”

Michael Meeson, Chambers Director of 39 Essex St, comments: “This report shows that there is a great opportunity for local authorities to generate cost savings through adopting a more progressive approach to the use of mediation in Judicial Review cases.”