Free Webinar – How Mediators Approach Dispute Resolution

This webinar will explore how mediators approach dispute resolution in practice. Our expert panel will discuss how mediators understand all sides of a conflict and guide parties towards resolution. The session will cover key skills used in the mediation room, including:

• building rapport
• reframing disputes
• identifying mutual benefits.

Speakers will also highlight the key differences between mediation and court proceedings, and suggest practical guidelines for mediators and parties to help ensure a successful mediation – including how mediation can offer creative solutions that may not be available through the courts.

There will be an opportunity at the end of the session to engage with the panel through a Q&A session. This free webinar is open to all – whether you are a legal professional, involved in dispute resolution, or simply interested in how mediation works in practice.

Speakers
Marina Sergides, Barrister and Mediator, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Marina is a barrister and CEDR-accredited mediator with over 20 years of wide-ranging expertise in civil and public law. In her legal practice, she is adept at handling negotiations in, but not limited to, disputes arising in housing, homelessness, disrepair, possession, community care, public law, and civil actions. In particular, Marina works on cases involving tenants with mental health problems, where capacity has been in issue and the Official Solicitor has been instructed. She has also represented tenants before the Social Security Tribunal and the Social Security Commissioner. Marina has additional experience in inquest and prison law, working closely with bereaved families.

David Watkinson, Barrister (Retired – Non-Practising) and Mediator, Garden Court Chambers
David practiced as a barrister for 40 years (1973–2012), focusing on housing and planning law, and represented clients in courts at all levels, including the UK Supreme Court. His cases included civil claims (and judicial review) arising from land and housing issues as possession, homelessness, breach of contract, disrepair, unlawful eviction and adverse possession and also equality and discrimination issues related to housing as well as prosecutions for housing offences. Since qualifying as a mediator (2008), David has utilised his advocacy and negotiation skills to assist parties in resolving disputes. He has mediated in cases such as contractual disputes between providers of services and proprietors of care homes/hotels, inter-tenant disputes concerning allegations of anti-social behaviour, disputes between the house-owners and an occupier about the legal nature of her occupation, unpaid rent and return of deposit, dispositions in a will where the main asset was a house, disputes between separating couples as to their respective  shares in the  proceeds of sale of their former home, a possession claim brought by a local authority against the occupier of a pitch on the Council’s Gypsy Caravan Site, injunction proceedings brought against vehicle dwellers in its area by a local authority and disputes between landlords (including housing associations and local authorities) and their tenants arising from breach of repairing covenants.

Helen Curtis, Barrister and Mediator, Garden Court Chambers
Helen is an accredited mediator and restorative justice facilitator whose mediation skills are incorporated into her legal practice. Due to her mediation skills, Helen is often instructed in complex cases where there is a high degree of conflict between family members and health and social care services. Equally, Helen undertakes cases where capacity issues intersect with the operation of the Mental Health Act or across geographical borders.  Helen was an approved mediator on the Court of Protection Mediation Panel and frequently writes for the Garden Court Chambers Social Welfare Updates and Mediation Blog.

Reserve your online ticket
Please fill in the form below to reserve your online ticket. We will send joining details to everyone who has signed up on the day of the event.

Please check your junk inbox if you have not received the link by Tuesday 10th June. If you have not received the link by 10am on Tuesday 10th June, and it is not in your junk inbox, please email webinars@gclaw.co.uk.