Someone missed the memo on mediation...

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the importance of engaging with ADR was old news but it seems there are some who missed the all-important memo on mediation. Thakkar & Another v Patel & Another (2017) is a salient reminder, should you require one, that it is not enough to say that you are willing to mediate only to prevaricate and delay. The Court of Appeal have made it clear, if the case is suitable for mediation the parties must get on with it.

In this case the Court of Appeal dismissed the Defendants' appeal against an order requiring them to pay 75% of the claimants' costs of the claim, despite the overall outcome at trial being less advantageous to Claimants than a settlement offer made by the Defendant.