Chris Makin’s Recent Blog Posts
What’s Magic About Mediation?
It often seems that the world of litigation lawyers divides into two camps: those who have never mediated, and those who are passionate advocates for mediation. The third group – lawyers who have tried it and say “never again” – doesn’t exist. Why? Well, it seems that the blandishments of many senior judges, including Lord […]
Let’s Turn To Crime
Looking back at the blogs on this site, as well as the many articles I have written for law magazines, it is striking what a range has been covered. In expert work we have had how to use an expert, how to understand business accounts, how to hold an expert meeting, partnership matters (including possible […]
Mediation – Do You Have A Choice?
ADR stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution, being an alternative to formal litigation. The term implies that parties and their solicitors have a choice: go down the litigation route, or the mediation route. But is there really a choice? I suggest not, on three authorities. First, from the executive summary of Jackson LJ’s Final Report in […]
The Worst Expert Witness: And The Winner Is…
A couple of years ago, I had the doubtful privilege of giving a blatant example of the “expert” who failed in every respect. The case was Van Oord Ltd & Anr -v- Allseas UK Ltd [2015] EWHC 3074 (TCC), where Mr Justice Coulson took pains to explain the twelve – yes, twelve! – respects in […]
Musings Of A Modest Mediator
Last year I completed my one hundreth mediation (it’s 112 to date, at 80% settlement rate). Now, a century may not be a huge number compared with those QCs who do nothing else, but it is a modest landmark, and it got me thinking about where I’ve come from, how I got where I am […]
Mediation: How To Serve Your Client Best
There is no doubt that mediation as an essential step in civil litigation is here to stay. We’ve seen the Overriding Objective in Part 1 of the CPR; Lord Woolf’s early cases with costs penalties; from Halsey the onus falling on the party refusing mediation to show that their refusal was reasonable; powerful speeches from Sir […]
The Real Value Of The Meeting Of Experts
“It is ORDERED that the experts of like discipline shall meet, and shall discuss matters relevant to their opinions in this matter, and shall produce a Joint Statement, setting out those matters on which they are agreed, and those matters on which they have failed to agree, with a summary of their reasons for disagreeing.” […]
What Is The Dispute Really About?
When for some years I headed up a team of forensic accountants in my old national firm, as a matter of policy I always recruited people who were brighter than me. They kept me on my toes and were great problem-solvers. They also worked extremely hard; the customary valediction on a Friday evening was not […]
The Bon Mots Of Sir Alan
Sir Alan Ward has for the last few years been the Chairman of the Civil Mediation Council. I have mediated with him, and he was excellent. But as a Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Ward also made his mark. I detect two recurring themes in his judgments: encouraging parties not to be so daft […]
Choose Your Expert With Care!
A sign seen in a Boston, Mass. shoe repairer’s window: “Fast Service – High Quality – Low Price – choose any two.” Is that how you choose your experts? I sincerely hope not! Here are my thoughts and suggestions, as a hard-bitten expert of 30 years’ experience. I am a chartered accountant so the slant […]