July 2009
The SCMA is pleased to welcome 
as a new Charter Corporate Member.
June 2009
The SCMA is pleased to welcome 
as a new Charter Corporate Member.
A note on the impact of the recent important case of Farm Assist v DEFRA (No.2) [2009] EWHC 1102 (TCC) will be sent to members shortly and will then be posted on this site.
On 3 June the SCMA delivered a presentation in Brussels to the Beligian High Council for Justice Working Party on Mediation on the UK experience of court-annexed mediation schemes. 15 judges at every level, from the investigating magistracy to the Court of Appeal, using Dutch, Flemish and French, engaged in close questioning about engaging lawyers and judges in the use of mediation.
On 9 June SCMA members contributed to a training programme in London for judges and members of the Justice Ministry of Croatia and officials of the chamber of commerce as part of a study programme hosted by ADR GRoup. SCMA have since been invited to address the Annual Mediation Conference of the Croation Bar in Zagreb, June 2010.
The SCMA has been invited to meet a delegation of judicial members of the Supreme People's Court of Beijing on their July visit to London. Our patron, Lord Falconer of Thoroton PC QC, has kindly agreed to host the occasion.
The SCMA Regional launches will continue in at Bristol on a date to be fixed:
Mediation Advocacy Skills Training Day
10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Burges Salmon, Narrow Quay House, Bristol
A practical inter-active skills workshop for mediators, party representatives and professionals having an interest in mediation
Speakers and Topics:
'Preparing for negotiation in mediation'
Andrew Goodman LLB, MBA, FCIArb, FInstCPD, FRSA, Barrister and CEDR Mediator, Professor of Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution Studies, Rushmore University, Convenor, Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates
'The impact of the Mediator on the negotiating process'
Michael Lind Solicitor and Mediator, Managing Director, ADR Group.
'The Drivers for Settlement'
John Burgess FCIoB, FCIARb, CEDR Resolex and MATA Mediator, past Chair, Society of Construction Law
With moderated role-play exercises and discussion forum
Members of SCMA & ADR Group £85 Non-members £150
To include lunch, refreshments and course materials 6hrs CPD
To be followed at 5.00 pm by a forum and reception (No Fee) to launch SCMA in Bristol and celebrate ADR Group 20th Anniversary :
UK Civil and Commercial Mediation: the next 20 years
Enquiries and Booking for both events: info@adrgroup.co.uk
Tel 0117 946 7180
May, 2009
SCMA is pleased to welcome 
the Chambers of John Ross QC as Charter Corporate Members. See www.1chancerylane.com
February 2009
Members of the SCMA attended the Fourth International Student Mediation Competition at the ICC in Paris, attending as competition mediators, judges and coaches.
Members of the SCMA delivered a Mediation Advocacy course on behalf of the RICS in Dubai
January 2009
Over the next few weeks we intend to make considerable additional resources available to members. Our updated Resources/Bibliography section will not be linked to other sites but set out in full with over 100 pages of references to books, articles and materials.
We also introduce into our Media Resource Links section a new category of Cases, Materials and Opinions which is intended to provide useful links for both practitioner, academic and student members. We have started by this by posting a link to the American Bar Association National Clearinghouse for US Mediator Ethics Opinions
This searchable database provides comprehensive coverage of mediator ethics opinions from 43 states. The database contains a short summary of each opinion with a hyperlink to the original opinion or document issued by the state or national body. Opinions are categorized by the nine standards in the Model Standard of Conduct for Mediators – adopted in 2005 by the American Bar Association, American Arbitration Association and Association for Conflict Resolution, namely
• Self-determination;
• impartiality;
• conflicts of interest;
• legal competence;
• impartiality;
• quality of process;
• advertising and solicitation;
• fees and other charges;
• advancement of mediation practice;
• other allegations asserted by party.
We will in due course be putting up links to UK, European and Commonwealth decisions concerning ADR, Mediation and Dispute Resolution generally affecting our members.
happy new year to all our members. Full details of our forthcoming activities will be posted here shortly but there will be accredited CPD and qualifying activities in April, October and November at the University of Warwick Conference Centre.
We shall be repeating our introductory course later in the year at 1 Chancery Lane Chambers.
2008
SCMA welcomes its first members in Nigeria. SCMA is in discussion with the Lagos Multi-door Courthouse scheme and the state Governor's office to deliver legacy training in mediation advocacy to practitioners in Lagos and Abuja, and has distributed material at a Pan-African Conference on the future of ADR in Africa.
SCMA is in joint discussions with mediation advocates in Belgium, Italy and thed Netherlands concerning a pan-European group.
We are delighted to announce that the Rt.Hon the Lord Goldsmith QC has agreed to become a patron of the SCMA.
SCMA is pleased to announce that it has entered discussions with groups in Belgium and Holland to launch a pan-European group. SCMA also welcomes its first accredited members in Ghana and Nigeria.
SCMA is pleased to welcome to Charter Corporate Membership Exchange ADR, the specialist section of Exchange Chambers, Liverpool.
SCMA is delighted to announce that the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Jackson, formerly presiding judge of the Technology and Construction Court, has agreed to become a patron of the Conference.
SCMA is pleased to announce a partering arrangement with the Regent's College School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology which provides courses in mediation and business coaching. SCMA members will be eligible for a discount of 10% on relevant existing and future SPCP courses. SCMA offers all past and 2008 SPCP course graduates Full Membership of SCMA free for the remainder of the calendar year 2008 insofar as SPCP graduates meet our full member criteria, and 10% discount on SCMA training courses and materials
SCMA is pleased to announce a partnering arrangement with the CPD Channel at www.CPDChannel.com who are producing a series of training podcasts, the viewing of which will be an accredited SCMA qualifying activity. SCMA members will also receive a discounted package on other CPD Channel products. Full details appear on the SCMA drop down menu.
SCMA is pleased to welcome Mace & Jones, Manchester as a Charter Corporate Member
SCMA is pleased to announce that 3 Paper Buildings Mediation Group of 45 members has joined as Charter Corporate Members with Regional Centres of Excellence practising in London, Oxford, Winchester, Bournemouth and Bristol.
SCMA is pleased to announce that Keating Chambers, specialist advocates in construction, engineering, energy and technology London has joined as a Charter Corporate Member with 15 individual barrister mediation advocates.
SCMA is now in the process of forming international branches in Brussels, South Africa and Ghana. SCMA has been invited to deliver mediation advocacy training in Accra, Ghana in August by courtesy of the Ghana Bar and the Executive Council of the Ghana Association of Certified Mediators and Arbitrators. Full details will be provided soon.
By kind permission of Harvard Business School SCMA is able to access its monthly e-newsletter Working Knowledge which contains many useful articles on negotiation strategies.
Both the newsletter and archive material can be read via the link on our new Media Resource Page within our Resources menu
MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
SCMA and ADR Group announce a working partnership for the promotion of mediation advocacy, training and events for the benefit of members and intended members of both organisations. ADR Group will participate in the SCMA Launch in Liverpool on 22nd July 2008, an event being hosted by Exchange Chambers Mediation Service. Full details will appear on our SCMA Training and Education Page.
SCMA and ADR Group are keen to address the need to grow mediation advocacy in the market place as a specialist skill, and to establish a quality threshold for those representing parties at mediation. We believe such a threshold is both necessary for mediation consumers and should be integral to the process itself. Representatives who have appropriate and necessary skills increase the chances of mediation succeeding to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned. Conversely those who do not understand the process, or lawyers who pay only lip service to its potential for immense time and cost savings, do themselves and their clients a disservice. They undermine the potential for settlement, as the market has come to recognise.
By their partnership arrangement members of ADR Group will have the opportunity to extend their skills and position in the mediation market, and members of SCMA will have the benefit of working with a long standing and highly respected leader in the provision of mediation services and training.
Under this arrangement ADR Group offer SCMA members the benefit of a 10% discount on existing and future ADR GROUP training courses.
SCMA offer all ADR GROUP individual or corporate mediator members
For further details of this important development please call Andrew Goodman (SCMA) on 0207 092 2924 or Michael Lind (ADR Group) on 0117 946 4603. This is the first of a number of partering arrangements by which SCMA are negotiating member benefits with outside organisations.
2008/9 Members CPD and Training
(a) Full or Charter Corporate Membership of SCMA free for the remainder of the calendar year 2008 insofar as ADR Group members meet the SCMA full member criteria (see menu SCMA/Membership)
(b) 10% discount on SCMA training courses and materials insofar as they are not free to members.
In addition ADR Group Training/CPD are recognised as a qualifying activity for SCMA membership and CPD requirements.
For those who missed the seminar at the office of charter corporate member 
on 25th March or who require conference papers on negotiation and cultural stereotyping from Professor Palmer these can be obtained by request sent to mp@soas.ac.uk.
SCMA REGIONAL LAUNCH PROGRAMMEembers wishing to host meetings in other regional centres are invited to contact the Convenor.
During 2009 further regional launch meetings will be held in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Nottingham. Details will appear here.
After our highly successful Oxford regional launch, by courtesy of Blake Lapthorn Tarlo Lyons and the Oxfordshire Mediation Group, our Manchester regional launch, by courtesy of Deans Court Chambers, our Exeter regional launch, by courtesy of Rougemont Chambers, our Liverpool regional launch, by courtesy of Exchange Chambers, our Leeds/Newcastle regional launch by courtesy of Park Lane Plowden Chambers, and our Southampton regional launch courtesy of College Chambers, m
