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Writer's pictureEd Johnson

The continued progress of mediation

With the limited access to courts and lawyers mediation is even more so now than ever the best choice to find a resolution for your dispute. Get your dispute resolved now while you can’t go anywhere you can really concentrate on what’s important and what deserves your time and energy.


Northwest Mediation uses Zoom, Skype and FaceTime as well as the phone and emails to resolve disputes so please do not feel that you cannot contact us as there are limits on physical meetings.



Mediation expansion continues into the new year with the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry opening its new arbitration, mediation and conciliation centre. The state of the art centre comes fully equipped for remote mediations, private meeting rooms for those times when in person meetings can happen again and arbitration rooms (closer to court style) ready for business with businesses in dispute who want to resolve their differences quicker, cheaper and with less stress than the court process.


At the virtual inauguration by Justice Sanjay K Kaul of the Supreme court the judge said “I have always been and will continue to be a great votary of mediation. I feel that different methodologies which are gaining ground are resolving even commercial disputes through a process of mediation, if not so followed by arbitration,”



This is an interesting article which presupposes that parties in mediation are likely to engage in lying (hence the picture-pun), as a mediator I’ve found that most “lies” are generally matters of opinion rather than outright attempts to mislead, what you see and understand is very much dependent on a certain point of view (as one Ben Kenobi once said).


The article goes on to address the rules for the American bar which (like our court rules) require advocates not to mislead either the parties or the court, but suggests the rules are more lax when it comes to mediation. Whilst the rules might be less clear the honesty and integrity of the mediator remains critical.


It’s no good telling one party one thing and the other another tale, as a mediator you’re looking to bring the parties together, what you tell and when you tell is one thing but saying something untrue is out of the question. Yes you may raise difficult questions or pose scenarios the parties haven’t come up with but you don’t start lying to one side or the other to get a deal, it’s not the mediator’s deal it’s the parties who have to come to agreement.


Twice in two weeks for Judge Barniville to get a name check in the blog last week dealing with Guinness and the Iveagh Market this week urging the parties in a commercial deal gone awry to get into mediation.


36 Upper O’Connell street was agreed to be sold for 1.45 million Euros by Real Capital from current owners Thomclarke Real Estate.


But problems arose when the neighbours at 35 carried out work which interrupted the light coming from the lightwell from which 36 benefits.


Telstar Investments argues it owns the lightwell but Real is claiming the ownership is shared between numbers 35 and 36. The works were carried out after contract but before completion and whilst Real have said they have taken steps to remedy the works Telstar issued high court proceedings for the reinstatement of the air ducts and other works it carried out and a declaration that they are owners of the lightwell.


In turn Thomclarke sued Real for breach and for a declaration that the contract for sale was voided.

Finally in an article that you can file under “I think we all knew this” comes a piece from Kenya on the damaging impact on children that seeing their parents over child arrangements has.


For the surge in divorce cases Senior counsel John Chigiti blames on the impact of Covid-19 with the sudden loss of jobs and closure of schools.


With every family member competing for the little that was there, everything became a conflict trigger…Small fires were lit all over. The future was unpredictable. Everyone’s life was under threat. There was no money, no cure, no direction..The Health CS and his poetic updates was everyone's salvation. Every day we kept hoping to hear him announce an end to the Covid-19 pandemic.”


Lawyer Shadrack Wambui and Mediation registrar Carole Kendagor added their voices to the call that “It ought to be a requirement that parties in children's cases attempt mediation before going for litigation to resolve their dispute,”


We wait to see how quickly and how far such a recommendation will be actioned.


As we’ve said before choose to mediate early and resolve your issues effectively, timeously, and with less stress and costs than going to your solicitor so you can get out the tunnel and see the light. You have an interest in the outcome the sooner you get round the mediation table the quicker you can move forward and avoid the grilling a cross examination in court would put you through.


By having a deep and meaningful discussions with parties the mediator elicits what the true “red-lines” are and where there is the potential for compromise, it is with this structured period of reflection that the parties are then able to reach an accord.


The flexible nature of mediation and the possible outcomes make it an ideal way to resolve disputes in an ever changing world and the open nature of discussions in mediation whilst remaining confidential allows all sides to engage fully in the process and understand the needs of all involved allowing parties to reach a conclusion which both sides can live with and move on.


There are so many situations which could have been resolved by early intervention of mediation it continues to surprise me the lengths the public will go to avoid referral.


Whether you need a mediator to help out with a construction matter in the Northwest, or council’s plans in Cheshire, a civil mediator in London, a commercial mediator in Manchester, a dispute resolution for your family in Liverpool, a neighbourhood mediation in Stockport, then our mediators at Northwest Mediation can help.


Mediation is cheaper, quicker and less stressful than running any case to court, it can help with any dispute whether it's an employment issue or the sale at an under value of a property, a fight with a neighbour, family issues, commercial disputes, civil mediation or inheritance, wills and probate arguments contact Northwest Mediation on 07931318347 or via email at ed.johnson@northwestmediation.co.uk


neighbour mediation; commercial dispute resolution; civil mediation; commercial dispute; corporate dispute; commercial mediator; family mediation; inheritance wills probate mediation; property mediator; civil mediator; civil litigation; fast track mediation; injury mediation

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