Chris Makin’s Blog Posts about ‘Mediation’
Family Inheritance Mediation
I want to talk today about a particularly difficult problem which mediators are asked to address, namely disputes over family inheritance. The reason they are so difficult is that it’s seldom about the money, or at least about money alone. Underlying many of these disputes are long-held resentments, questions of self-worth, fairness, and questions of […]
Is There no Limit to the Powers of Mediation?
A few years ago we saw the funeral of brave Alfie Evans, the terminally ill little boy of 23 months who died despite a campaign to have him treated in Italy, supported by no less an advocate than the Pope, and whose parents had taken his case right up to the European Court of Human […]
It really hurts when you’re wrong
Why do sensible people lose the ability to act rationally when they are in conflict? What makes some families tear themselves apart in petty squabbles so that family members don’t speak to each other for years? Why do neighbours blight their daily lives with bitter and confrontational disputes? And how can otherwise placid people become […]
Border Wars
I have banged on for ages about the stupidity of going to law over border disputes. And I’m not talking about Russia invading the Crimea, or China’s campaign to take over Taiwan. No, much closer to home, I have in mind the passions which can be aroused when next-door neighbours argue over where exactly the […]
There Really Is An Alternative
Blood is thicker than water, and a happy family is a wonderful power for good. Those contemplating legacies to their loved ones will still have rosy memories of the baby twins, the nephews and nieces when young, of dangling a new-born on the knee…wonderful! But when the family falls out, blood curdles and that power […]
Creative Mediation
Mediation is now so well known that any competent lawyer can rattle off the advantages: quick, cheap, confidential, without prejudice, reduced risk of adverse costs, the parties are in charge, and so on. Today I concentrate on the most interesting aspect, in my view: the ability for the parties to reach an agreement which no […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]