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13 December 2013 / Brian Dawson
Issue: 7588 / Categories: Features , ADR
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Playing devil’s advocate

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Brian Dawson provides some handy hints on how to unsettle a mediation...

A well-known and very well respected mediator called David Ritchbell, wrote an article in 2005 called “The subversive lawyer’s guide to mediation”. He in turn gave credit to an earlier article by Jeff Kichaven for his article “Six ways to sabotage a mediation”. The basic thrust of the article was that, with notable exceptions, most lawyers failed to make the best of the opportunity provided by mediation while some committed a number of professional fouls to try to prevent success. I have had the pleasure of working with some of those notable exceptions as a mediator, but it does seem to me that things haven’t changed much between then and now. So, for anyone who is interested, here are some of the tips on “How to unsettle a mediation” that I have picked up from previous articles and personal experience.

 

Resisting mediation

When mediation is first proposed, I suggest you say that your client’s case is too strong and there

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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