The Worshipful Company Of Arbitrators - The UK Mediation Skills Competitions 2014 Report

This Competition was held over the weekend of 17, 18, 19 January 2014 at the offices of global law firm Linklaters LLP at Silk Street in the City of London. The Worshipful Company of Arbitrators is delighted to recognize the support given by Linklaters in hosting the Competition and providing amazing logistical support and the opening and closing receptions. The Company is also grateful to the other sponsors, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, which provided financial support and prizes, and ArbDB, the Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Board Chambers, which provided the Competition Mugs and also supported the Competition Bar.

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Four Members of ArbDB, the Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Board Chambers, took part as Officials (judges and mediators) in the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators UK Mediation Skills Competition 2014. Murray Armes, Michael Cover, Tony Marks and Paul Rose all participated in this highly successful competition. 

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A very strong entry this year was provided by students from no less than 16 teams from UK Universities and Law Schools. These were: 

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• Kaplan Law School

• London Metropolitan University

• Nottingham Law School

• University of the West of England

• London School of Economics

• Queen Mary, University of London

• Reading University

• University College London

• University of Southampton

• School of Oriental and African Studies

• University of Law, Birmingham

• City Law School, City University

• University of Chester Law School

• University of Hertfordshire

• Queen’s University Belfast

• Middle Temple

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Christopher Miers of the Organising Committee and his authors had devised 4 Mediation Scenarios, 2 of which were used in the Preliminary Rounds and one each in the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final, in each case in a mock mediation with a professional mediator and 2 or 3 judges. The Semi-Finalists , each of which scored two clear wins in the 
Preliminary Rounds, were: 

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• Middle Temple

• London Metropolitan

• Queen’s University Belfast

• Nottingham Law School

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Whilst the Semi-Finals were running on the Sunday morning, Philippa Rowe ran a Workshop for Participants and Officials on all aspects of Private Dispute Resolution. 
The Grand Final was held on the afternoon of Sunday 19 January 2014 and the mediator was Jane Andrewartha, with Katie Bradford, Master Derek Ross and Robert Gaitskell as judges. The Grand Final was between London Metropolitan and Nottingham Law School. The exciting Grand Final was extremely close and was won by Nottingham Law School.

The prizes were presented by Michael Stephens, who is not only the President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators but also a Past Master of the Company. The 40 Officials, both mediators and judges, were organized by Liveryman Chris McCardle. The ushers and timekeepers comprised students from other institutions and were organized by Jennifer Lavelle. The prize for the Winner of the Grand Final included an entry to the ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition 2014 in Paris 7-12 February 2014. As Nottingham Law School already had an entry to this, this privilege was passed on to the Second Place team, London Metropolitan. Angela Herberholz of the ICC came over to present this prize and to brief London Metropolitan on their forthcoming involvement in the Paris Competition; the Company is extremely grateful for the support of the ICC on this. 

The awards were thus: 

• Ist Place: Nottingham Law School

• 2nd Place: London Metropolitan

• Runner Up: Queen’s University Belfast

• Runner Up: Middle Temple

• Best Newcomer: Queen’s University Belfast

• Best Mediation Plan: School of Oriental and African Studies

• Best Mediation Advocacy: London Metropolitan

All the award winners received Certificates signed by the Master, Dr Derek Ross; all the attending participants also received Certificates of Attendance signed by the Master.

The Company is indebted to all of the sponsors, particularly Linklaters, for their support, without which this all would not have been possible. Above all, the Company is indebted to the participating students and their coaches, all of whom gave up their time and, in some cases, used their own resources to be able to be present.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we are all very much looking forward to the next Competition.