Q&As

Do you run a remote mediation in the same way as a face-to-face mediation?

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Produced in partnership with Chris Fitton of IPOS Mediation

Published on: 29 May 2020

The legal and contractual principles under which a video conference (VC) Mediation is conducted (eg Without Prejudice, Confidentiality, privilege etc) are the same as for an in-person mediation. The process is typiCally the same too, with the mediator hosting a virtual joint session at the beginning of the day followed by a succession of virtual private sessions with each party in their separate virtual rooms.

But there may be some practical differences/considerations in the process, including:

•
pre-mediation review
•
staggered joining times
•
plenary meeting
•
maintaining focus

Each of these are discussed in turn below.

Pre-mediation review

With a VC mediation the mediator will usually ask for there to be a pre-mediation review—a joint video call between the lawyers using the chosen video conferencing platform taking place a few days before the mediation day.

This is ostensibly to check that the advisers each have the IT working and are familiar with operating the platform’s user interface. But lawyers should

Chris Fitton

Mediator, IPOS Mediation

Chris is one of the top 50 commercial mediators in the UK today and has been consistently recognised as such by the legal directories. Chris spent 20 years as a busy commercial disputes partner with national / international firms. He now mediates full time, mostly with large corporates, insurance companies, banks and pension providers. He has mediated c200 mediations in the last five years, 50 of which were over £1m amount in dispute.

In 2018 Chris was included in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for excellence as a mediator.

Chris was, until 2014, still active in private practice as a solicitor, where he had day-to-day dealings with mediators from the perspective of a client. This experience means that he is very aware of what solicitors and their clients want from the mediator, and actively responds to that.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Mediation definition

What does Mediation mean?

A form of alternative dispute resolution in which a mediator follows a structured process to facilitate an agreed settlement between parties to a dispute.

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