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Framing Costs-Inclusive Offers – Are you up to date?

For years it has been accepted wisdom for litigation lawyers to advise their clients that they will not recover all their costs if they win at trial. Clients are told that the irrecoverable costs – those that are disallowed by the costs judge upon detailed assessment – are typically pitched in a range between 25% to 33% of the actual costs paid by the client. To put it the other way round, the maximum costs that the losing party will be ordered to pay to the winning party will be somewhere between three quarters and two thirds of the winning party’s actual costs.

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Anyone for Plenary?

In my pre-mediation discussions with the parties’ lawyers I often hear the opinion that the plenary session is a waste of time. Each party knows its case, there is no point in verbally repeating the position statements and “warm words” are unnecessary. In other words, it’s private rooms and shuttle diplomacy – “let’s get on with the negotiation”. Really?

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Draft First, Mediate Later!

Drafting a complex settlement agreement or consent order at the end of a long mediation day is a pain in the neck! I know; I’ve been there after midnight scribbling away. Now, as a full-time mediator, I’m delighted to leave the tricky stuff to the parties’ lawyers. But, boy, is it frustrating for everyone to be waiting one, two, three (my record is six) hours for the lawyers to agree a draft and then take their clients through it line by line. One can easily lose the will to live. Not to mention the obvious: that complex drafting after an exhausting day is not a great idea. Mistakes creep in.

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Legal Directories 2015

I’d like to thank all those who gave feedback on my Mediation practice to the Legal 500 and Chambers UK researchers. I’m really pleased with my write ups in the latest editions:

Legal 500: Alistair Pye at In Place of Strife uses his ‘calm and balanced approach to inspire confidence from the outset’. Clients praise his ‘professionalism and commitment to finding solutions’, ‘meticulous preparation’, ‘objectivity’ and ‘ability to see the big picture’.

Chambers UK: Alistair Pye attracts praise from market sources for being “extremely thorough in preparation, coming to mediations knowing the issues and understanding them.” Sources also appreciate his flexible approach to mediation, noting that he is “pretty tough and resilient when needed, but also friendly, which clients appreciate.” He undertakes a range of mediation work, ably handling commercial, employment and property disputes.

And thank you so much to all who have agreed to provide feedback to the researchers for this year – it never ends!

Alistair Pye

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Adjudication or Mediation?

On Tuesday 20 October at UWE, I collaborated with Trevor Drury, an accredited mediator,
lawyer, chartered surveyor, chartered construction manager, project manager and expert witness specialising in construction and energy sector disputes.

The presentation was given to 20 professionals in the construction industry hosted by the Brunel Centre of the Chartered Institute of Building.

The lively presentation explained the features, merits, problems, and when to use both forms of alternative dispute resolution from a practitioners perspective, with an update on recent developments.