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25 September 2015 / Rebecca Attree
Issue: 7669 / Categories: Features
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Book review: Mediation Advocacy: Representing Clients in Mediation

"While the title suggests this excellent book is only for mediation advocates, it will be useful to anyone going to mediation, including the parties"

Author: Stephen Walker
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 9781780437927
Price: £70

One of the things about mediation is it is done behind closed doors, so it is difficult for anyone not involved on a regular basis to understand what really goes on. By their very nature mediations and their outcomes are confidential, unless the parties otherwise agree. Success stories are rare in the legal press. A mediation finally made it to prime-time TV in an episode of Coronation Street last year, but was met with dismay by the mediation community because of how mediation was portrayed (it did not settle). So a very welcome addition to books on the subject is one that tells how mediation really is, and how the process that some proponents describe as “magical” actually works.

Practical perspective

Written from a practical perspective, the author (an experienced mediator and former litigation solicitor) takes you right

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NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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