This year, four members of 9 St John Street’s Business and Property group have secured rankings in this competitive field....
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Overview
Richard joined Chambers in 2010. He is a CEDR accredited mediator specialising in Business and Property disputes and head of Chambers’ Mediation Group.
Before transferring to the Bar, Richard practised as a solicitor specialising in Chancery and commercial litigation. He completed his Articles with Pannone & Partners in 1990, was admitted as a solicitor in 1992, and became a partner in 1996. He was head of Pannone’s property litigation team from 2002 until he left to move to the Bar in 2009.
Between 2009 and 2010 Richard worked in-house for the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes dealing with all Methodist Church property in Great Britain and gaining experience of the charity sector generally. He remains involved with the governance of the Methodist Church as a member of its Law & Polity committee, and as a Non-Executive Director (Chair) of Methodist Chapel Aid Limited.
Richard was accredited as mediator by CEDR in 2008 and has an active practice as a mediator, having conducted over 400 mediations. He became a Civil Mediation Council Registered Mediator in 2015.
Richard now purely practices as a mediator. He is recognised as being calm, affable and able to put parties at their ease, helping them to reach (wherever possible) a satisfactory conclusion to their dispute. Richard’s fees for conducting mediations are available here.
Mediation
Richard was accredited as a mediator by CEDR in 2008. He has conducted over 400 mediations covering a wide range of disputes for individuals and companies. He now practices full-time as a mediator and is the head of Chambers’ Mediation group.
The main areas of his mediation practice are:
– Inheritance Act and other contentious trust and probate actions
– Property and boundary disputes
– Co-habitee (TOLATA) claims
– Landlord and tenant claims
– Agricutural tenancy disputes
– Commercial and insolvency disputes
– Professional negligence claims
– Construction disputes
Mediation Fees
The fees quoted below are for a 2-party mediation. For mediations involving more than two separately represented parties (e.g. where there are more than two separately represented defendants), please contact Richard or one of Chambers’ specialist mediation clerks for a specific quotation.
All ‘full day’ fees cover preparation (up to 4 hours), travel time and expenses (or room hire and refreshments if the mediation is hosted at Nine Chambers), and the mediation itself up to 9pm on the first day.
Additional time spent on preparation or in mediation (by agreement with the parties) is charged at the rate of £200 + vat per hour (or part hour).
A deferred fee can be offered in suitable cases. Please contact Richard, or one of Chambers’ specialist mediation clerks, for further information.
Remote mediations
Full day – £2,000 + vat (£1,000 + vat per party)
Half day (4 hours maximum) – £1,500 + vat (£750 + vat per party)
In person mediations
Band 1 – North West (Manchester City Centre (including Chambers), Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire), North East (Leeds and Sheffield), Midlands (Stoke)
Full day – £2,250 + vat (£1,125 + vat per party)
Half day (4 hours maximum) – £1,750 + vat (£875 + vat per party)
Band 2 – North West (Carlisle and Lakes), North East (other), Midlands (other), North Wales
Full day – £2,500 + vat (£1,250 + vat per party)
Half day (4 hours maximum) – £2,000 + vat (£1,000 + vat per party)
Band 3 – London, South East, South West, East Anglia, South Wales
Full day – £3,000 + vat (£1,500 + vat per party)
Half day (4 hours maximum) – price on request to allow for travel
Property and Commercial
Richard is a mediation specialist. His mediation practice mirrors his previous practices both as a solicitor and as a barrister specialising in ‘traditional Chancery’ (now ‘Business and Property’) work. The areas he regularly deals with broadly break down as follows:
- Wills, trusts and probate
A significant part of Richard’s mediation practice is made up of disputes concerning estates. These range from claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, through challenges to the validity of Wills, to claims relating to the administration of estates and ancillary matters.
- Real Property and Landlord and Tenant
Building on over 30 years’ experience as a solicitor and then barrister, Richard is regularly appointed in mediations involving property.
On real property matters Richard mediates disputes between:
- neighbouring landowners – rights of way and other easements, boundaries, and the enforcement / modification of restrictive covenants
- co-owners of land – TOLATA claims and other trust-related matters.
On landlord and tenant matters Richard’s practice covers claims relating to business leases, especially renewals under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, and dilapidation claims, and residential leases. He also deals with disputes relating to agricultural tenancies.
- Commercial
Richard’s commercial mediations fall into three broad categories:
- Partnership disputes – examples of these include farming partnerships, medical professionals, and other professionals.
- Professional negligence – usually claims against legal professionals, but Richard also deals with claims against architects and surveyors.
- Commercial disputes – general contractual claims, building disputes, and some insolvency matters.
Associations
Civil Mediation Council Registered Mediator
Association of Northern Mediators
Chancery Bar Association, Property Bar Association
Professional Negligence Bar Association
Northern Business and Property Bar Association
Education
MA Magdalene College, Cambridge
Prescribed Information
Richard is a practising mediator and barrister who is regulated by the Bar Standards Board. Details of information held by the BSB about Richard can be found here. Richard’s clerks will happily provide no obligation quotations for all legal services that he currently provides. Their contact details can be found here.
It is most common for Richard to undertake Mediation work for a fixed fee. A deferred fee option may be available in suitable cases; please contact Richard’s clerks for more information. Where available, Court and Tribunal services are most commonly undertaken for a fixed fee or a brief fee plus additional refresher days. Advisory work, including paperwork and conferences, are most commonly charged at an hourly rate although fixed fees are available. Conditional Fee Agreements and Damages Based Agreements will be considered in cases with favourable prospects of success. Where available, Richard will typically return paperwork within 14 days, however professional commitments, complexity and volume of documentation can affect these approximate timescales.
