John Kendall is an experienced mediator, with a very thorough background in dispute resolution.  He was trained by CEDR in 1995 and has been a member of the Court of Appeal Mediators Panel since 2003. He has long been committed to mediation and other ADR processes which allow people to resolve their disputes without lengthy, time-consuming litigation.

A graduate of New College, Oxford, John qualified as a solicitor in 1976.  He gained a diploma in construction law and arbitration at King’s College London in 1991.  John was from 1977 a solicitor and, from 1985, a partner at Allen & Overy in London, and from 1994 to 1997 managing partner of the litigation department and a member of the firm’s board. At Allen & Overy he gained first class experience of commercial dispute resolution at all levels of courts and tribunals, both domestic and international, and represented parties in negotiation and mediation.

Since 1999 John has worked independently and has conducted more than 80 mediations. He takes a practical approach, and sees the role of the mediator as mainly that of improving communication between the parties. As an experienced litigation solicitor he is well placed to warn parties of the risks and uncertainties of the court process. John knows the importance of keeping working towards a settlement, and of avoiding being sidetracked, particularly where time is limited.

John has particular experience in:

• Professional negligence claims against accountants, solicitors and architects
• Company and partnership disputes
• Property disputes
• Construction disputes

Outside the commercial sector, John has conducted mediations between parents and local authorities about special educational needs. And he has worked, as a volunteer, to manage and promote LawWorks Mediation, which provides mediations free of charge to those who cannot afford the cost and for whom no other funding is available.

Other ADR work ...

Alongside his mediation work, John has pioneered the study of expert determination, and was the original sole author of the only textbook on the subject, now in its fourth edition. One reviewer described Expert Determination as “quite simply, superb…a deep and thoughtful analysis with an easy to read everyday style.”  John’s articles on commercial dispute resolution have been published in a wide variety of periodicals: and he is a fluent French speaker.

John now lives in Presteigne in the Welsh Marches. In that community, he is chairman of the governing body of John Beddoes School, and chairman of the internationally acclaimed Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts; and he has played a leading role in a very successful twinning arrangement between Presteigne and the town of Ligné, near Nantes.

Comments on John’s qualities as a mediator include:

• John handled the mediation very astutely. It was a difficult negotiation (not assisted by the venue!).  He helped to keep both sides talking. As a result of his efforts, I am glad to say that the case has now settled. The agreement that was finally entered into broadly corresponds with the deal that was struck in principle at the end of the mediation.
  
  
• John’s decision to place the parties together alone was inspired: overall an excellent result.
  
  
• John has a mature and effective mediation style which put the parties at their ease and enabled them quickly to concentrate of the issues in dispute effectively.
  
  
• John politely refused to carry legal arguments back and forth between the parties, which shifted the focus from the legal rights and wrongs to realistic expectations of settlement.

Examples of disputes settled in John’s mediations include:

• Solicitor’s professional negligence in respect of a commercial lease
• Rival claims between shareholders in a travel company
• A claim against a lawfirm by the widow of a former partner
• Rights of access to freehold property
• A dispute between a bank and a recruitment agency
• Credit card transactions
• Goods damaged in storage

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