On 20 May Littleton Chambers launched a new, urgent mediation service at a seminar and reception at Gray’s Inn Hall. The Littleton Urgent Mediation Unit, known as ‘Lumu’, now offers a rapid response mediation service dedicated to early and urgent dispute resolution. The emphasis of the service is on offering speed and availability. According to Richard Price QC, ‘a phone call in the morning could lead to a mediated exit agreement that same day.’
 The service, badged as dispute resolution ‘by litigators for litigators’, aims to give parties something ‘more in tune with demands of business’ than is currently available in the market. Such a service, they believe, is especially desirable in internal partnership, commercial and local authority disputes, in addition to areas like employment competition disputes, property and construction matters, IP and professional negligence disputes. In other areas like neighbour disputes, Littleton mediators will be available to visit sites, and ‘sort the matter out there and then.’
In publicising the offering, mediators at Lumu hope to counter what they believe is a growing trend towards over-preparation for mediation on the part of parties and advisers. Voluminous documentation, they believe, is neither necessary nor desirable. Added simplicity, they hope, will ease the burden of disputes on businesses. According to Philip Bartle QC, the offering is about ‘taking mediation back to where it ought to be but with the added benefit of all the experience gained in the meantime.’
|
