NLJ this week: Spotlight on (virtual) ADR

Barrister and mediator, Professor Suzanne Rab, Serle Court, says ‘digitisation presents new opportunities’ and points out that mediators and advisors will need to adapt. She offers practical advice and highlights that virtual mediation could help ‘mitigate the impact’ of the pandemic on business as well as providing new career pathways for lawyers.   

International arbitration was better prepared than the court system because it already used remote hearings in one form or another, writes barrister Anthony Connerty, 6 Pump Court.

Arbitral organisations moved swiftly to provide webinars and take steps to address any issues arising in virtual proceedings, for example, the slower pace and the danger of witnesses being assisted off camera.

Masood Ahmed, Associate Professor at Leicester University and member of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee, provides a detailed look at the significance of ADR and the dangers of unreasonable behaviour. He surveys relevant caselaw, for example, on silence in the face of an invitation to ADR and unreasonable refusal to engage in ADR.