HUMAN LAW MEDIATION

Mediation on the rise in personal injury cases - But will the lawyers help?

A brief mention of mediation in the Law Society Gazette.

"Personal injury mediation will gain in popularity as a result of the credit crunch, according to a leading provider.

Maurice Nichols, mediator and consultant to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution’s personal injury unit (PIU), said: ‘There are always two important drivers to personal injury litigation – the claimant wants to see an end to his case and get his compensation as quickly as possible – and solicitors’ cash flow as they are running a business.’ Today's economic climate ‘accentuates focus on both’, he said."

My view is that all this is correct and desirable but may be idealistic and may not actually reflect what happens on the  ground.

At my firm, and our training we consider these are barriers to adoption of mediation within Personal Injury cases:

1 Application by judges of the Civil Procedure Rules. Essentially the judiciary is being too weak in pushing mediation with parties which they should be pushing with parties.

2 Resistance by parties for going to mediation. This stems from too much ignorance of mediation.

3 Resistance by lawyers to adoption of mediation.

The Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 is out

Two of the most respected commentators  on law publishing and technology, namely Nick Holmes and Delia Venables  have recently published the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers and Law 2.0,

In the latest edition:

1. Nick Holmes looks at how law publishing is continuing to change in response to technological change and how it is now being pushed even further by global recession. How will law publishing develop over the next few years?

2. Helen Dewar of Leigh Day & Co. tells us how the implementation of an intranet at her firm was driven by the desire to move away from a paper copy of the office manual, a Word document that ran to several hundred pages and covered every aspect of the firm's professional life. She describes the key factors which lead to the success of an intranet project.

3. Jonathan Golden of Solnick LLP describes how the firm enhanced their profile by implementing the emplaw employment data base in their own website. This is a way of providing legal information for free, but then being in a good position to offer legal advice in the normal way.

4. Neil Addison of New Bailey Chambers looks at "fax to email" services - and finds them invaluable for people who do a lot of work away from their firm or chambers. He describes how the systems work.

5. Rob Hailstone of HIPAG describes the new HIP Regulations regarding the ending of the transitional arrangements. The new element is the Property Information Questionnaire and he considers what effect this will have on the buying and selling process.

6. Alison Bowker describes how Oxford University Press has made its first foray into online information for lawyers and legal researchers with the launch of new online services in International Law, Investment Claims and Public International Law.

7. Anthony Kinahan describes the new database of the opinions (judgments) of the Scottish courts in over 650 cases now provided by Scottish Council for Law Reporting.

8. Nick Holmes looks at the key elements in Richard Susskind's new book "The End of Lawyers?" Whilst some sorts of traditional legal service may die out, there are other opportunities for innovative lawyers to carve out a new (and enduring) role.

9. Gerald Newman helps chambers work out a strategy for e-marketing - most Bar websites are static brochures, with not much else on their site except a possible email newsletter. For chambers who really want to stand out, there are many ways to do this. (Many of these techniques work for firms' web sites as well).

I am subscriber of the above and well worth it as well. 

To view my firm's resouces on mediation, click here.

Regulation is the air within the mediation profession - We should welcome it

As was reported in the Law Society Gazette last month, "Proposals for a regulation regime for mediation faltered last week when mediators told the Civil Mediation Council (CMC) they need more time to consider ‘ambitious’ plans.

However members of the organisation, which represents civil and commercial mediators, approved a scheme to register workplace mediators to meet the needs of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The scheme will go live early in the new year and be the first point of contact for people wanting to find a mediator under provisions in the new Employment Act

More radical proposals to introduce voluntary registration schemes for mediation organisations, mediators, codes of good practice and a complaints review body were not carried.

The proposals were not voted on, but the 80-strong meeting was agreed that the consultation period be extended to 31 January 2009. The amended proposals will be debated at a special meeting on 31 March. Members acknowledged the huge amount of time that had gone into drafting the reforms."

My views:

Regulation is a necessary step. There is too much at stake for the parties to avoid regulation. There is some good analysis over on the Mediator Magazine.

Hopefully more consulation can take place.  Having looked at the proposals they do not appear unreasonable. 

Conflict rises in Euro zones - Can lawyers and institutions hone their skills?

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard  writes of conflict in the Euro zone:

"Workers are already rising up against the ruling socialists. An angry march by trade unions in Zaragoza on Sunday is the first shot across the bows.

As yet, no Spanish heavyweight has questioned the orthodoxy of EMU membership. That may change, as it is changing in Ireland. The euro system is starting to inflict very grave hardship on ordinary people. This is exactly what critics always feared. In the end, it will breed conflict. "

We need to question our own skills as lawyers in resolving disputes. Our clients should be less inclined to litigate because they cannot afford to do so. Can we sharpn our skills to resolve disputes sooner?