Our Team

I have been involved in mediations as a party and recently as a mediator since I began my career over 15 years ago. My main area of practice is professional negligence law, involving claims against the whole range of professionals, including the emerged professions.
This area is particularly well suited to resolution through mediation as Insurers are often keen to settle claims early on before costs rise and litigants also understandably do not want to be involved in protracted litigation if it can be avoided. Resolving matters amicably through mediation can also protect the professional or individual’s reputation, whereas a no holds barred approach to litigation only destroys relationships and reputations.

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Uniquely qualified as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and a Chartered Loss Adjuster with construction and insurance experience extending for over 38 years, I have been actively involved in negotiations and the resolution of claims and disputes for all of that time.

As an accredited commercial mediator, I derive tremendous satisfaction from helping parties, who have become embroiled in costly and time-consuming disputes, sometimes extending over many years, to achieve settlement of those same disputes in just a few hours.

I also derive satisfaction from the knowledge that my involvement as a mediator has saved each of the parties considerable sums of money which would otherwise have been spent on litigation, with all of the attendant risks which such action involves.

I retain a quiet manner during mediations but remain extremely diligent and focussed yet flexible in the search for a solution to suit all parties.

“The mediator did everything that was asked of him and could not be faulted.”

“The matter was dealt with professionally and well.”

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Hello,

Having spent many years resolving disputes between conflicting parties on insurance claims, I decided to pursue my growing interest in mediation four years ago by training to become an accredited mediator. I then set up a mediation business practice within an international loss adjusting firm before becoming an independent practitioner.

I realise that not every dispute is suitable for mediation. There is no guarantee of success but history shows that where participants decide to enter into it the chances of reaching an agreement are very high. Importantly the outcome is determined by the people it affects and not by the courts.

In my experience mediation has facilitated the resolution of the seemingly unsolvable. Key to this is good preparation by the mediator and all those involved as well as providing a relaxed environment in which to listen to what people say.

I qualified as a Chartered Insurer in 1988 and as a Mediator in 2008.

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David qualified as a mediator in 1996 and has handled over 150 mediations with a very high settlement rate. His areas of expertise include:

professional negligence and indemnity;

contractual litigation especially with insurance involvement;

construction;

insolvency;

mortgage disputes;

inheritance disputes;

off-shore and international disputes;

employment disputes;

employers’ liability claims.

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Hello,

I’ve been helping people resolve claims for over 20 years, initially as a litigation solicitor and now as a full time commercial mediator. I enjoy helping parties find ways to settle even the most intractable disputes.

I like parties to be as relaxed as possible at mediations within a professional and businesslike environment. I am focussed on settlement whilst appreciating it is important for all sides to recognise that occasionally you do need to walk away. I tailor the process of each mediation to suit the representatives, the parties and the nature of the dispute.

I qualified as a Solicitor in 1991 and as a Mediator in 2006.

“This was a difficult mediation with no co-operation from the other side. The mediator was fundamental in turning this round enabling us to reach a settlement by the end of the day.”

Fiona Henderson, Motor Claims Manager, R J Kiln & Co Ltd.

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I have spent 40 years in and around claims – advising, investigating, litigating, and resolving them. And in all of those years the highlights were in finding the energy, imagination and skill to resolve the seemingly unresolvable.

As a mediator I aim to help the parties explore ways forward, bring lateral thought and inventiveness to the negotiating table and keep the parties focussed on the problem. Where the situation demands it I will be persistent and tenacious in helping the parties find a solution unless the parties decide that a negotiated solution is not right for them.

I regularly train lawyers, insurers and corporates in negotiation skills, and have written extensively on mediation and negotiation styles, techniques and strategies.

“His approach brings imagination to the settlement procedure. He explores routes that traditional settlements never look at, but in a constructive and sensitive way with the parties until a deal starts to unfold”

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I have been settling cases for many years and taken part in scores of mediations in England, Europe and the U.S. Many of the mediations have been multi-party disputes, covering complex contractual, insurance, construction and professional indemnity questions. In the course of handling countless claims, both in the U.K and abroad, I have negotiated literally thousands of settlements, and have vast experience in resolving matters without recourse to litigation or arbitration.

I look for innovative and creative routes to settlement. Parties come to mediation looking for a positive and original approach. I hope I provide this. Mediation should be taken seriously but in an informal, relaxed and focussed atmosphere. I discourage grandstanding, preferring to encourage debate, coolness and common sense. I have found that mediations succeed where intelligence prevails – and this requires both reason and reasonableness from the mediator.

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Mediation Experience :

A highly experienced mediator, Peter has experience of professional negligence, engineering, finance, land and all aspects of the construction industry. He has had extensive specialist training in London, Rome and the USA and conducted in excess of 150 mediations in the UK, with an extremely high rate of party settlement, including multi-party and multi-issue disputes.

Insurance Experience :

Peter is the managing director of The Vinden Partnership (“TVP”), chartered quantity surveyors specialising in the provision of surveying, project management and dispute resolution services. TVP also has direct insurance expertise, source a wide range of construction industry related insurance products including Structural Warranties and Latent Defects Insurance, Bonds and Guarantees, Public and Employers Liabilities Insurance, Property Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance, Construction All Risks Insurance, Business Interruption Insurance.

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Mediation Experience :

Trained as a mediator in 1994 by ADR Group and became a full time mediator in 2006. Types of mediation work – Dispute Mediation: professional indemnity, commercial, property, public/product liability and personal injury claims, and Deal Mediation: industry deals involving Association of British Insurance, the Law Society, Civil Justice Council, Ministry of Justice and RTA Portal Co Limited.

Claims and Insurance Experience :

Tim has dealt with many thousands of claims as a solicitor and a mediator – being insurance related. Whether acting for, or against, an insurer, Tim’s experience as a mediator, solicitor, and company director has given him a deep insight into the practical working of claims in this sector. This experience involves bringing claims, defending them and understanding diverse types of claim (high value, high volume, claims outside the UK) and the business and other demands of the various parties involved. Tim is the independent Chairman of RTA Portal Co Limited and the GTA Technical Committee (credit hire).

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