The Car Crash of Legislation That Is Missing The Opportunity To Expand Mediation
Despite being one of the major creators of civil justice throughout the world, it is shameful that, with over 100 years passing since Judge Mathew gave us the famous phrase about the courts sharing the same door policy as the Ritz Hotel, that more and more people find themselves unable to afford justice. Whilst Alternative Dispute Resolution (resolving disputes outside of court) has the potential to indeed make justice open to everyone like a Travelodge rather than the Rit
ODR for Collective Redress
Continuing from my previous post on how increasingly interest is being shown in the potential for ODR in specific types of claims, last week I travelled to Salamanca University in Spain to talk on the role of ODR within collective redress (i.e. group/class actions) claims. Salamanca is a beautiful historic old Roman town with UNESCO World Heritage status some 120 miles west of Madrid. A team of partners led by Professor Lorenzo Bujosa Vadell of Salamanca University are respo
ODR in Clinical Negligence
One example of how interest in ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) is beginning to mature is the growing interest in the application of ODR to specific categories of claims. For example, last month, I was asked to give a talk at a conference organised by Action Against Medical Accidents (AVMA - which originally stood for Action for Victims of Medical Accidents but no doubt was changed to remove the negative victim culture reference) on the role of ODR within clinical negligence c
Council of Europe Committee Urges Wider Use of ODR
Last week saw the publication of a Report to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
of the Council of Europe on the question of whether ODR and the increasing use of technology and communications over the Internet for the resolution of disputes may conflict with the public's right to access to justice as enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe is the body responsible for enforcement of the ECHR through the European Co
New Years Resolutions To Rise?
The 1st October 2015 was quite a momentous day for ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) and ODR (Online Dispute Resolution). Its just a pity very few businesses in the UK knew about it. Very few knew that, when they walked into their offices or opened virtually for their online business, they were now the unpaid marketing agents for Online Dispute Resolution. It was from that day that large numbers of businesses were required to comply with The Alternative Dispute Resoluti
Artificial Intelligence Tackles The Law. What Hope For Ned Ludd QC?
If we listened only to the naysayers of this world, we would still be living without:- The aeroplane - "no chance of it ever becoming a commercial means of transport "- Engineer Magazine The telephone- "it has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication."- Western Union The car - "but this is only a novelty – a fad” -President of Michigan Savings Bank The TV - "People will soon get tired of staring at it"- Darryl Zanuck The light bulb - "When
The Future of the Courts
On the 14th October 2015, Westminster Legal Policy Forum held a seminar on the future of the courts, the second part to which focused on access to justice and the role of technology. Below are some short notes of the proceedings. I have not included all speakers but just some of the comments that I found of particular interest and relevance to the role of technology in a modernised justice system. Professor Richard Susskind, IT Advisor to the Lord Chief Justice and Chair of
New Requirements on Retailers to Inform Customers from 1/10/15 of Forms of Alternative Dispute Resol
As from the 1st October 2015 it will be an offence for any business selling goods or services to people buying other than for the purpose of a trade, profession, business or craft to not inform those customers whose complaints they do not resolve, of the details of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service that covers such transactions, is accessible and operational online, and has been approved by Trading Standards. Further, the business must say whether or not they wi
