Simon Carne | Consulting+

From working as an independent expert witness, I know only too well that it is not unusual to find one’s client acting as though nothing the opposing party says can ever be believed. As a mediator, I have seen this attitude taken by both sides simultaneously. Sometimes in a dispute, both sides are inveterate liars. But quite often I would see two parties who were both incapable of seeing that their opponent’s point of view was not built (entirely) on falsehood. It seems that is where we are now with Brexit. Read more »

What are the chances of being able to write a 2,000 page report on press regulation and walk away with all-party support (or even all-Party support)? Plainly, not very high. This final stage of the inquiry could have been – should have been – handled differently. Read more »

As an accredited mediator, it’s always of interest to me when I come across an example of a dispute which is better resolved through mediation than through litigation. These stories provide useful examples of the benefits of a mediated settlement.

Even more interesting was the example I came across just a few days ago in which I could just as easily have been one of the parties in need of mediation. Read more »

On Wednesday, the Lord Chief Justice (the appropriately named, Lord Judge) bemoaned the continuing move towards overly prescriptive legislation, saying:

“There is a guideline for judges passing sentence on those rather odd people who have sexual intercourse with a corpse. There’s a different possible approach depending on whether it’s with the same corpse or a different corpse. It’s all to do with the idea that you can legislate for just about every possibility.”

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