Alternative
Dispute
Resolution ("ADR”)
QEB offers four particular forms of complementary ADR, by way of
alternative to the stress, delay and essential uncertainty of
litigation and court proceedings:
1. Round-table meetings/Joint Conferences
2. Collaborative Law Single Joint Experts
3. Mediation
4. Private FDRs, including private FDR conducted by the recently
retired High Court Judge, Sir Hugh Bennett.
Round-table
meetings/Joint Conferences We
have plenty of office space within Chambers for three-room meetings at
which both sides to litigation may discuss their case in privacy and
comfort, away from the courtroom, and then negotiate in the safety of a
third room (either face-to-face or through their chosen
representatives).
Collaborative
Law Single Joint Experts All
members of chambers offer the ability to act as Experts (whether on the
basis of sole or joint instructions, as required) on issues of law or
procedure within the normal litigation process, either in national or
international cases. In addition Tim Amos QC and Duncan Brooks are each
Collaborative Lawyers who offer to act as Single Joint Experts within
the Collaborative Process, typically participating in multipartite
meetings in order to assist the parties and their solicitors towards
settlement or to discuss a draft pre-nup or pre-cip agreement.
Mediation
Tim Amos QC is also a Resolution
Mediator.
Private
FDRs Conducted by the QEB
QCs, Duncan Brooks and the recently retired High Court Judge, Sir Hugh Bennett.
The FDR, or Financial Dispute Resolution hearing, is a key stage of
financial proceedings in the Family Courts. An FDR is an informal
hearing before a Judge when the Judge hears a summary presentation of
each side’s case and gives "early neutral evaluation" of the
likely outcome if the case were to proceed to a full trial, so that the
parties are assisted to negotiate for themselves a tailor-made solution
with an understanding of what a Court might be likely to order if the
case went to a final hearing. It is, in effect, non-binding
arbitration. This procedure is generally successful in producing
autonomous settlement in 80-90% of cases which would otherwise involve
judicial determination at a final hearing and which, in reality, would
otherwise involve months of further waiting (and significantly
increased legal costs) for a final court hearing.
However, such is the pressure on the Court’s listing of cases
that even a supposedly straight-forward FDR may itself involve
a wait of many months just to get a Court date in front of a Judge who
may turn out not to be an expert in money cases, and/or not to have had
sufficient chance to read the case papers in advance of the FDR
appointment, and/or who may not be able to devote sufficient time to
securing a negotiated settlement.
A private FDR avoids the inherent risk of insufficient court time or
judicial expertise. It also avoids the delay in waiting for a court
date. And, very importantly, it can take place wholly outside the Court
process – with or
without
the existence of court proceedings in parallel – and is not
confined to financial issues (as is the case with Court-FDRs).
Duncan Brooks and each of the QEB QCs - Lewis Marks QC, Lucy Stone QC, Charles Hyde QC,
Tim Amos QC and Jennifer Roberts QC - are able to conduct Private FDRs
('sitting' as an independent facilitator) by which the
clients are guaranteed an early date for an appointment of flexible
duration by an expert who will have read the papers thoroughly in
advance and who will be able to give the parties the time which they
may need in order to resolve the dispute.
In addition, Sir Hugh Bennett, who has recently retired having
completed 15 years as a High Court Judge in the Family Division of the
Royal Courts of Justice, offers private FDRs under the QEB-umbrella. He
sits at regular intervals as a s.9 High Court Judge hearing ancillary
relief cases and is also a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey
& Guernsey, including hearing ancillary relief appeals. He has
already conducted a number of successful private FDRs since his
retirement and the feedback from the solicitors involved has been
extremely favourable.
WORK UNDERTAKEN
Members of QEB appear in courts throughout the country and abroad,
ranging from magistrates' court to the House of Lords and the European
Court of Human Rights.
We give advice in conference, in writing and by telephone. We can also
arrange video conferencing.
We are used to dealing with urgent cases at very short notice.
CLIENTS
We act for individuals and public and corporate clients, including
trustees.
We undertake both private and publicly funded work.
VALUE
We seek to provide a high quality service to all our clients, provide
value for money and comply with the Practice Management Standards of
the Bar Council.
MANAGEMENT
Chambers has been awarded BARMARK, an award made by the Bar Council to
those chambers able to demonstrate the maintenance of good practice
standards in accordance with set criteria and independently assessed by
the British Standards Institute.
Copies of our
Client
Care letter,
Confidentiality
Document and
Equal
Opportunities Policy can be
downloaded as PDFs.
“Long
held reputation for excellence.”
QEB, Queen Elizabeth Building, Temple, London, EC4Y 9BS +44 (0) 20 7797 7837
