By Matthew Pascall, Senior Underwriting Manager
(Estimated reading time: 1 minute 50 seconds)
CEDR was founded in 1990 at a time when mediation and other forms of ADR were in their infancy (save, of course, for arbitration). In the subsequent 30 years mediation has grown from a somewhat obscure concept that practitioners approached with some degree of reserve and skepticism to a routine aspect of much commercial litigation.
Many in both branches of the profession have become not only familiar with the process through their participation in mediations but have also trained and now practice as mediators, adding useful strings to their professional bows.
Selling a settlement to one’s own client is not always easy. The client can feel let down and start to question their own team’s commitment to their case. A good mediator can take the sting out of the settlement negotiations and draw the parties together, helping them to find a consensus and a sensible resolution of their dispute.
Here at Temple, we welcome and encourage our insured to mediate. It is always important we give our insured and their solicitors and counsel the opportunity to identify and advise as to the right time to engage in mediation, but we will never stand in the way of a client looking to mediate.
It may be prudent to delay a mediation until after discovery so that everyone has a reasonably well-informed view of each side’s case and before the parties have started to incur any pre-trial costs. With all the cards on the table, a successful outcome to the mediation is more likely. Others may want to mediate early and in relatively straightforward cases early mediations can work.
For us a successful mediation brings our risk to an end and usually the premium will be significantly less than that payable if the case had proceeded to trial. To encourage mediations, we can build into our staged premiums a discount that applies if the case settles at or within a week or two of the mediation.
Our ATE insurance includes cover mediators’ fees and we can fund these through our disbursement funding product.
To find out more about this cover and how Temple Legal Protection’s legal expenses insurance products can help to support and develop your business, please contact Matthew Pascall on 01483 514428 or email matthew.pascall@temple-legal.co.uk.
Matthew Pascall
Legal Director – Head of Commercial
01483 514428
Matthew Pascall
Matthew was called to the Bar in 1984 and joined Guildford Chambers two years later. Spending more than 30 years in practice there, he was listed as a Legal 500 Tier One barrister.
He joined the commercial team at Temple Legal Protection as Senior Underwriting Manager in 2017.
Matthew was appointed to Temple’s Board in December 2022 as Legal Director and Head of Commercial.
His knowledge of the commercial legal sector and litigation practice is invaluable to the business and our clients, providing specialist experience to lead the commercial litigation insurance team.
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