ADR

There is still “quite a lot of ignorance” among solicitors about adjudication as a “swift and relatively inexpensive” way of settling professional negligence disputes, a barrister adjudicator has said.

Requiring parties to submit to early neutral evaluation against their will is “not an obstruction to or constraint on” their access to the court, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

A court has the power to order early neutral evaluation even though one party has not consented to it, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

There is no evidence that making mediation compulsory rather than voluntary produces better results, a review by the Scottish government has found.

No5 Chambers has launched a fixed-fee private early neutral evaluation service for claims worth up to £25,000, echoing the financial dispute resolution appointment in family proceedings

A battle between a widow and stepson over a large estate “cries, indeed screams out” for the kind of “robust, judge-led” processes used to settle family law disputes, a High Court judge has said.

A provision in the Arbitration Act 1996 that allows the courts to rule on points of law during arbitration proceedings is under-used, Sir Rupert Jackson has suggested.

A Court of Appeal judge has rejected the argument that the growth of arbitration to resolve commercial disputes has retarded the development of the common law.

The Civil Justice Council has called for a ‘notice to mediate’ system used in Canada to be considered as the first step towards a more “automatic” system of alternative dispute resolution.

In reading the legal press over the last year or so, mediation for clinical negligence claims has featured regularly and there seems to be a momentum from both sides – perhaps more so from NHS Resolution – to promote it as part of the mainstream menu offered by litigators. Below is an in-depth look at these developments, viewpoints and some preconceptions on what is undoubtedly a topical subject.