On Thursday 22 May 2014, the Civil Mediation Council annual conference was held at The Metropolitan Hotel in Leeds.

Lord Faulks QC reaffirmed the commitment of the MOJ to raise awareness of mediation, and its benefits, in the UK and indicated that 64% of small claims settle at the Small Claims Mediation Service (SCMS), and 95% of users would use the SCMS again.

A recent survey suggested that there has been a 9% increase in the number of mediations taking place since 2012.

So far, so good

Graham Ross gave a talk on Online Dispute Resolution services and advised that a recent Ebay study found that sellers who engaged in Ebay’s ODR process, have seen more loyalty from customers including those they have been successful against.

Graham also stated that in the not too distant future all websites looking to provide goods or services within the EU will have to have a clause with a link to an ODR provider as part of its terms and conditions.

Stephen Ward, from Clerksroom, then advised that they received 130 mediation enquiries in April 2014, and have a conversion rate of 99%.

Lord Justice Briggs gave an interesting talk and revealed his appreciation of mediation and the benefits it can bring, before speaking of a recent case (referred to anonymously as AB v CD) in which a mediator was compelled by court to attend court to give evidence. This raises serious questions regarding confidentiality and privilege which remain unanswered as of today’s date. The general mood of the room was that anything said privately between participant and mediator is covered by legal privilege and a judge should not draw adverse inference from this position.

We then moved onto the results of a recent survey commissioned by the CMC and CEDR. These are set out below in no particular order of relevance or importance:-

• There were 295 respondents, representing over 50% of the Civil Mediation Council’s membership;
• There have been approx. 9500 in the past 12 months. This figure does not include mediations via ACAS or the SCMS;
• 66% of mediation instructions were received directly from the participants;
• Novice and intermediate mediators reported that they performed less than 4 mediations in the last year;
• 26% of respondents are male;
• 96% of respondents are white;
• 52% of respondents had a legal background; This has fallen by 10% in the past 2 years;
• 47% of advanced mediators mediate full time;
• Over 75% of mediations settled in one day;
• An average mediation involved 16 hours of work by the mediator;
• Only 15% of mediators want to see mediation made compulsory;
• 57% of lawyers want to see more encouragement for mediation to take place;

And now to costs:-

• £9 billion – total value of cases mediated in the past 12 months;
• £2.4 billion – value of savings (in time, lost relationships, productivity, and legal fees) for businesses who have engaged in mediation during the past 12 months;
• £22.5 million – Total mediation fees paid in the past 12 months;
• £17.5 billion – value of savings (in time, lost relationships, productivity, and legal fees) for businesses who have engaged in mediation since 1990;
• £65 billion – total value of cases mediated since 1990.

The meeting was informed that the Civil Mediation Council will become a registered charity. It will be open not just to registered mediators, but also to anyone with an interest in mediation.

And finally – the overall atmosphere at the conference was positive. Attendees appeared to be committed to driving mediation onwards, and this was reflected by the speakers also. There were some complaints concerning the difficulties faced in generating mediation referrals but, as with any business, it is the hard miles which usually generate the most rewards.