Twenty years in law. An MBA that sharpened the commercial thinking. And a growing conviction that the legal system, as designed, does not always serve the people inside it.
I qualified as a solicitor in 2002. The training was rigorous, the work was interesting, and the adversarial system made a certain kind of sense when you were inside it. Disputes have facts. Facts have legal consequences. Courts determine those consequences. The logic is clean.
What the logic does not account for is what happens to people while the process unfolds. The sleepless nights. The financial pressure. The way a dispute with a former business partner — or a neighbour, or a spouse — begins to consume everything else. The legal system is designed to resolve disputes. It is not designed to minimise the cost of resolving them.
The MBA at Oxford Brookes sharpened a different lens: the commercial one. Disputes have costs that do not appear on any invoice — lost management time, damaged relationships, missed opportunities, reputational exposure. Litigation often maximises those costs. Mediation does the opposite.
I came to mediation having watched — over many years — the same pattern repeat. Parties who could have settled early, for a fraction of the eventual cost, litigating to the bitter end. Lawyers (including, at times, myself) who were structurally incentivised to keep the matter running. A system that treats settlement as a detour on the way to a hearing, rather than the destination.
Mediate Don't Litigate is my direct response to that pattern. It exists to offer something the system rarely offers: an honest conversation about what resolution actually costs, and a faster, cheaper, less damaging way to reach it.
Most mediators, when agreement is reached, issue a heads of terms document and advise both parties to see a solicitor. That means more cost, more delay, and a window in which the deal can unravel. I close that window. The settlement is the end of the process, not the beginning of another one.
The scoping call exists because mediation is not always appropriate. If I do not think mediation is the right route for your dispute — I will tell you, and I will tell you why. The conversation is free. The wasted mediation fee is not.
A mediation that reaches agreement but cannot produce a document is unfinished. Every session is structured around reaching a conclusion that can be written down, reviewed, and signed before anyone leaves the room. That is the job.
I am paid a fixed fee, agreed in advance. There is no incentive to extend the process, adjourn to another day, or recommend further services. Resolution is not just the goal — it is what I am paid to deliver.
Mediate Don't Litigate sits alongside a group of related legal services brands — each distinct, each with its own audience. They share a single conviction: that the legal system should serve people, not profit from their confusion.
McKenzie Friend service for litigants in person. Practical court support for those navigating civil proceedings without a solicitor — affordable, experienced, plain-speaking.
An education platform for litigants in person. Courses, guides, and tools to help individuals understand the civil process and represent themselves effectively.
Fractional General Counsel for SMEs. Commercial legal support without the cost of a full-time in-house lawyer — contracts, disputes, governance, and compliance.
Thirty minutes to understand the dispute and assess whether mediation is the right route. No obligation. No charge. If it is not right for your situation, you will know before you spend a penny.