Introduction

Representing parties at mediation is not a soft option for the advocate. If you are unprepared, if you do not know what to expect, if you do not know what you are doing, your client will be at a considerable disadvantage and you will come unstuck. The Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates and its Forum for Mediation Advocacy are aimed at lawyers, accountants, surveyors, property and H.R. professionals, trade union representatives, local government officers and other advocates who represent clients in mediation in all its forms. It is compiled not only for "first-timers" needing to learn about the basics of mediation very quickly, particularly as to what they should expect and how they should prepare, but also for those more seasoned advocates wishing to specialise independently in mediation advocacy and who want to develop the particular skills that it requires.

Specialist advocacy in mediation is still in its infancy but there is no reason to suppose that, as court-annexed schemes develop and mediation comes to be regarded as just another form of dispute resolution hearing in which representation is accepted as a matter of course, the advocate's particular expertise should not be developed so that mediation advocacy becomes a desirable specialist skill. Full members of the SCMA practise, develop and promote such skill (see the SCMA menu, section Who We Are, and click on Full Members).

There has been a clear move in recent years away from the generalist mediator to the specialist mediator be he or she a lawyer or other expert. It has been recognised by sophisticated commercial parties with complex disputes that lawyer mediators with expertise in the field of the dispute give mediation a better chance of success. Informed commercial parties look for sensible reasons, based on proper risk analysis of the litigated outcome of the dispute in question, to found a recommendation for settlement. They settle because there are sound commercial reasons for doing so, usually based, at least in substantial part, on a careful analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the case. All this has an impact on the responsibility of the representative. He has a specific role and must be thoroughly prepared.

In the present legal landscape it is essential for all lawyers to have a good understanding of the mediation process, although the use of mediation is certainly not the sole prerogative of the legal profession. This website is aimed at helping all those involved, and who may wish to then become accredited to the SCMA.