CONFLICT RESOLUTION: MEDIATION, MENTORING & COACHING

Finding Resolution, One Hump at a Time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does mediation cost?

Usually far less than litigation. Most mediations resolve a dispute in a day when litigation costs rack up to hundreds of thousands of pounds over the course of billable hours by the weeks, months and sometimes years. I am transparent with my fixed fees and have a dedicated fees page. My fees are very competitive.

Have I read it right that you do not charge VAT?

To be at my best for you as a mediator, I commit to 100+ annual hours for learning rather than earning. Since April 2024, a company must charge VAT if their turnover threshold exceeds £90,000. My clients are not businesses who can offset VAT. I want to stay cost effective for the more modest disputes. By working less and learning more, I can save you a further 20% on costs and dedicate to continually learning and improving my skillset to help you.

How quickly can a mediation be organised?

It usually takes 1 month from you deciding to mediate with me as your mediator to the mediation itself. If everyone involved has availability, we can work to shorter timescales. Remote mediations are easy for all to organise without the logistics of a venue and travel. I can facilitate a mediation within 7 days but not via my online calendar. Contact me by email please for short notice mediations.

What is your availability for a mediation?

My online availability calendar will tell you by availability. I am happy to act as mediator on occasional Saturdays should participants both have traditional hours jobs and prefer not to take a day's holiday for their dispute. If I am not available, I usually can recommend a mediator for you, so please send me an email and I'll try to help.

Do I need a solicitor?

No, you can represent yourself, and most do for Hump Day Wednesdays. For more complicated disputes, legal representatives attend. If legal advisors are not attending, often they are on stand-by to offer advise when you need it. As a neutral mediator, I cannot give you legal advice during the mediation.

Your mediations online are cheaper and I’d prefer to participate from home. But I am worried about my tech skills and having to see the other side.

Remote mediations are now very popular. They are easier to organise and have no venue cost considerations. Zoom is very easy to use and has the facility for 'breakout rooms' so you don’t have to meet the other participant if you prefer. Your computer, a tablet, an iPhone, etc. and a good Internet connection is all you need. As part of our pre-mediation call, we'll go through any tech issues. Some participants prefer 'hybrid' where they meet with their lawyers in person, but meet with me, the mediator, online. This works well if you are worried about tech on the day.

Will mediation always solve my dispute?

Whether mediation is a success depends on the parties. I can only facilitate discussions and try to promote a dialogue that explores solutions both participants find more workable than the dispute continuing. Take heart: most mediations do result in settlement, and even when on agreement is reached on the day, often agreements are reached shortly afterwards because of how the mediation has helped unknot some of the issues and shone a light on ways forward.

Where can I find out more about mediation process?

My style and facilitative mediation process is explained on this page. Now that mediation is firmly embedded into our UK legal system, you can find lots of information across the web, if my site or a discovery call with me leaves you wanting to know more.

Do you do family mediations? I'm getting divorced.

Our legal system tends to term all issues relating to divorce, marriage and child arrangments as 'family law' but families are more complicated than that. I don't do mediations that require expert knowledge of our family law legal framework that is being run in the family courts. You need a specialist FMCA accredited mediators conducting MIAM mediations. I can recommend fellow mediators who can help. The only mediations I can help you with that could run through the family courts are claims for financial provisions, often called 1975 Act claims.

Do I have to meet the other participant during the mediation process?

Not if you do not want to. It can be useful to hold a short joint meeting at the start of the mediation, but if that will hinder rather than help, we certainly don't have to. Often the participants prefer not to meet at the start of a mediation and leave it open to meet later on in the day. Sometimes the participants arrive, settle and go home and have never met once. It's all up to you. it's YOUR mediation and everything is flexible. I might try and recommend how the process usually develops which from experience usually yields the best result, but if the participants want it their way, they get it. It's YOUR process, not mine.

What about paperwork?

I need the trailer to the film. The blurb to the book. I've got to know what the dispute is about and why the parties have been unable to resolve it themselves so far. If writing a short statement is not for you, and you don't have a legal representative, then I'll find out what the dispute is about in our pre-mediation call. It is more usual, and my preferred way to work, to have a small mediation bundle of papers and a mediation statement to work from.

What should I wear?

Whatever you want. Please just be comfortable. All I ask is for participants to be respectful to all involved. If a hoodie is the standard daywear of those who shape our world in the 2020s, we can wear them in mediations. Mediation is not court. Jeans, shorts, trainers, joggers etc. are all absolutely fine for Camel Mediations. So is being suited-and-booted. Each to their own. We're here to have a conversation about your dispute, not judge, positively or negatively, how we choose to dress.

How do I get the other side to mediate?

You can’t. Well, not really. Mediation was always supposed to be a voluntary process, though the courts have begun to order parties to mediate. You can try persuasion. You can remind the other side that they face quite severe cost consequences if they refuse to mediate and the dispute proceeds through the courts. I can also reach out to the other side to make the suggestion to mediate if preferred.

What is your cancellation policy?

It does depend on the mediation. Please take a look at my cancellation policy, but if you want the highlight: Hump Day Wednesdays have a more stringent cancellation policy than the standard full or half day. To help parties cut down on admin (often costly if lawyers are involved) I operate a £20 non-refundable deposit to secure a date.

Why a non-refundable £20 deposit?

I think it's a far more economical and fair way of working. There are many spinning plates when organising a mediation. There's another parties dates to consider, legal representative dates, venue dates, transport etc, and I can be occupied in a mediation or legal case and can't secure your mediation into my diary when you are waiting to book train tickets, a venue, or even Counsel. The £20 is refunded to the party who paid it once the invoice for the mediation is paid.