Independent Mediators are very proud to announce that all 9 of our members have been listed in tier one of the mediators section in the new edition of Legal 500 released this week. This is a tremendous achievement for all.
We are delighted with the rankings and are extremely grateful to all our instructing solicitors and clients for their support in helping us to both achieve and maintain them.
Full listings for each of our Mediators can be found below.
Independent Mediators’ Charles Dodson is ‘a go-to mediator for commercial cases where heads need banging together; he has a robust personality and charm and a persuasive style’. Other praise Dodson for being ‘acute, and an effective, practical, hands-on mediator’. His recent mediations focused on professional negligence claims, involving solicitors, surveyors and valuers, financial advisers and insurance brokers; and commercial claims involving the construction and insurance sectors, as well as partnership issues. In addition, he mediated disputes regarding pensions and insolvency.
Undertaking over 50 mediations in 2016, Phillip Howell-Richardson at Independent Mediators ‘has a highly facilitative style; he is a fabulous mediator who is tenacious, incisive and challenging, yet also great with clients and commercial in his outlook’. Howell-Richardson is also ‘appreciated for trying different ways and approaches to move matters forward’. The majority of his recent mediations related to commercial claims, including company and commercial contract issues, professional negligence, insurance matters, international commercial claims, and banking and finance conflicts. Other areas include disputes involving IP and IT issues, employment, partnership, property, construction, and probate.
Independent Mediators’ Kate Jackson is ‘an extremely capable mediator, who is calm and assured at all times, and has an innate ability to get to the heart of a dispute; she is unflappable, excellent at dealing with more emotional clients, and works extremely hard to get a result’. Jackson’s practice covers a range of commercial, banking and employment disputes.
A ‘go-to mediator who has gravitas with clients’, Michel Kallipetis QC at Independent Mediators ‘tests cases during private sessions, helping to manage clients’ expectations, and he does not give up on a settlement, even when the parties want to’. Conducting over 85 mediations in 2016, recent work involved disputes surrounding professional negligence, construction, oil and gas, insurance, property and commercial matters; he also acted in employment, fraud, insolvency, partnership and probate-related conflicts. Highlights included high-value claims against various banks for alleged mis-selling of financial products.
Independent Mediators’ Mark Lomas QC is ‘really one of the very best mediators out there; he is tough, robust and has strong analytical capabilities. Rarely do his energy levels wane and he is rarely anything other than an effective conduit between the parties, even where there is significant complexity’. Lomas’ practice includes commercial contracts, professional negligence, insurance, and banking and financial services, as well as general common law disputes, construction, probate, and trusts.
Jonathan Lloyd-Jones at Independent Mediators is ‘an effective mediator who is good at listening to parties and focusing on a dispute’s key points; he can be robust and challenging when necessary and will keep going to get a result’. Lloyd-Jones is also praised for being ‘receptive to the emotions that often ride high between clients at a mediation, and he is quick to adapt the structure of the mediation to suit and accommodate the clients’ wishes, rather than impose his own views’. His practice covers commercial topics, including claims for fraud-based restitution, breaches of restrictive covenants, and professional negligence claims; and he is often involved in insolvency, construction and property matters.
Bill Marsh at Independent Mediators is ‘a mediator who has seen and done it all before, yet he still manages to bring a freshness and energy to each mediation. He has a nicely understated style, but forceful when he needs to be, and hugely experienced at getting a sense of how the parties want to negotiate, and where a deal lies’. Marsh covers a broad range of UK-related and international commercial disputes, including commercial contracts, product liability, insurance and reinsurance, and professional negligence; he also acts in disputes involving shareholders, sports, medical negligence, pensions, IT and shipping.
Andrew Paton of Independent Mediators is ‘a very able mediator, who works hard to achieve a settlement; he ensures that he is properly prepared and that he understands what a case is about in order to keep a mediation heading in the right direction. He also has a very pleasant and approachable style, which helps to put clients at ease’. Paton is a former Pinsent Masons LLP partner who undertook undertook 57 mediations during 2016; and a large portion of his work focused on professional negligence claims, with the balance spread between construction, insurance, property and commercial matters.
Independent Mediators’ Nicholas Pryor is ‘an exceptionally experienced mediator, who carries significant gravitas and is easy to work with’. Pryor’s cases recently covered a broad gambit of UK-based and international commercial issues; other disputes included insurance and professional negligence claims.