about the risks and uncertainty of litigation and the benefits of achieving a certain outcome through negotiation at the mediation. Understanding the way in which legal costs, CFAs, legal cost insurance and litigation funding works is also helpful, as these aspects are frequently an important dynamic in any negotiation. My familiarity with legal issues and litigation processes also helps me to read and understand the mediation statements and mediation bundle – which in many cases have grown over the years to more resemble trial bundles – far more quickly than would otherwise be the case. You have also been ranked in both Band 1 of the Chambers Guide and the Top Tier of the Legal 500 Guide for UK-wide mediators for the last 11 consecutive years. What do you think is the significance of these two leading directories for mediators in the UK? They have always been the main ‘go-to’ directories for law firms looking for mediators as, of course, both guides are also for the lawyers themselves, so they do trust the rankings. The work they do in researching mediators and obtaining feedback from the lawyers that have worked with the mediators is crucial; it helps Chambers and Legal 500 to understand what is going on in the industry and ensures it is real feedback and testimonials that ensure the mediators are ranked accordingly. Tell us about your CDR Remote offering that you launched during the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. How has this changed the landscape of commercial mediation in the UK? From the outset of the pandemic and the first lockdown, it was thought that this would stop all mediation in its tracks. This would not have been too much of a problem if it were in the short term; however, it quickly became apparent that COVID-19 was not a short-term problem. We had to find a way to continue working through all the ongoing and upcoming cases to avoid a huge backlog. Online video calls were still an unknown to many lawyers and their clients, so communication and reassurance were key to delivering CDR Remote. Urgent self-education and familiarisation with the available technology was necessary. Going through that process, I realised that the in-person mediation experience with which we were all familiar could be very accurately replicated though the use of Zoom (in particular), as well as other platforms. For lawyers and clients, online security and confidentiality were key considerations, so initial concerns about Zoom needed to be and were quickly remedied. There were also entirely understandable concerns amongst lawyers as to just how the process would work in practice. By proposing free online pre-mediation calls, it was possible for lawyers and their clients (and counsel where involved) to become familiar with the technology and for me to talk through the logistics, as well as addressing the usual pre-mediation issues. This ensured a greater level of comfort and confidence for the parties and lawyers on the day. These online pre-mediation calls have proved to be exceptionally popular and continue to be part of the added value I try to bring to the mediation process. They are not confined to online mediations, but have also become popular ahead of in-person mediations. You have been described as ‘a calming presence’, ‘highly personable’, ‘very effective’, ‘thoroughly prepared’ and having ‘a knack for building rapport’. What do you think is the secret to being an effective mediator, and how do you bring parties together when they are seemingly far from resolution? There is, of course, no secret magic ingredient to effective mediating – and if there was, I probably would not share it! It is a multi-faceted role that involves It is vital to never lose sight of the commercial outcome and to instil energy into the process when it is needed. 22 LAWYERMONTHLY JANUARY 2023
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