All signs point in one direction - mediation

Anyone who litigates will be interested in what the Master of the Rolls recently had to say, namely that parties should be encouraged and perhaps directed to engage in mediation. It is the nearest to advocacy for compulsory mediation that has been seen in recent years. Add in the European directive on mediation; the alternative dispute resolution provisions in the proposed pre-action protocol for general litigation; and recent changes to the allocation questionnaire and it is clear that a party ignores mediation at its (financial) peril.

Wragge & Co's experts provide an analysis.