Chambers 2009 edition; Universally acclaimed for her "understanding of participants' needs and sensitive approach," Allen's winning combination of "pragmatism and insight" is well suited to sensitive disputes: "Calm, diplomatic and resilient, she is able to keep people focused in a fraught situation and facilitate the best outcome." ... "her willingness to take a broad overview and ability to adapt to a complex, changing situation" have proved invaluable.

Mediation experience

Heather Allen is a Registered mediator, accredited by CEDR in February 1995. Her mediation appointments are complemented by her wider business facilitator practice that spans nearly 20 years.

She has mediated monetary claims ranging from £5000 to £12 million, as well as entrenched non-monetary disputes.

Heather has mediated contractual claims in a wide spectrum of industries, as well as extremely sensitive cases between employers and employees (and ex-employees) and between professionals and their regulatory bodies; acrimonious and potentially disastrous disputes between trustees; personal injury and professional indemnity claims; internal disputes between Board members and/or between employees at all levels.

Mediation approach and style

Her broad background, as outlined below, which includes hands-on business experience as well as being legally qualified (barrister), enables her to deal effectively with commercial disputes. She applies a practical and problem-solving approach to helping the parties achieve a workable agreement.

A major area of her mediation expertise lies in resolving complex employment disputes, both of a purely contractual nature as well as allegations of harassment, discrimination and victimisation. These sometimes involve six- and seven-figure claims in the banking, commercial, public authority, higher education, and health sectors, and several with an international element; sometimes non-monetary factors are a key part of settlement.

One of Heather's particular strengths is in dealing with power imbalance, perceived or real, and with overt inter-personal and intra-organisational conflict. She is also confident working cross-culturally, having worked as a consultant abroad and on equality policy implementation in organisations in the UK.

She is highly numerate and confident with complex calculations and concepts. She has a clear, direct, practical approach, not flinching from the tensions that so often accompany business difficulties.

Feedback

Comments from parties about Heather's mediation competence and approach include:

• 'I was very impressed with Heather. We had some very strong-minded people... all had the potential for throwing their toys out of the pram... I think that Heather handled it very well.'
• 'Totally professional and objective. Focused on agreed outcomes'
• 'Conciliatory in tone and sensible'
• 'Did a great job at building up trust on both sides'
• 'Picked up rapidly on points of difficulty'
• 'Strengths - listening, energy, calmness, maintenance of a secure, positive environment'
• 'Managed a very fair and open process'
• 'Patience and perseverance'

Described in Chambers as:

• 'A gifted mediator; gets underneath a problem and sees all of its angles' (2006)
• 'Good with clients and very down-to-earth.' 'She gently drives things forward' (2007)
• 'Allen's forte is "keeping mediations on track. She knows when to be patient and when to push things on"'. (2008)

Additional comments from lawyers who have worked as her assistant include:

• 'Heather has tremendous drive and energy'
• 'Quickly got the respect of the parties'
• 'She seemed to me to be in control throughout'
• 'Heather played a difficult role with great discretion'

Detailed information on Heather's expertise...

• Employment
• Discrimination
• Professional Negligence
• Personal Injury
• Property
• Probate
• General Commercial
• Media
• Other ADR experience
• Professional background
• Other experience

Employment

• Dispute between a European engineering company and its managing director who claimed breach of contract contrary to a claimed minimum contractual employment term.
• Dispute between a money market trader and a foreign bank over millions of pounds of claimed bonus payments following termination.
• Breach of contract claim by assistant principal of a university.

Discrimination

• Disability discrimination allegations against a professional body and several senior executives by a member over its refusal to offer employment.
• Race discrimination claim against a high-profile public authority in which mediation offered a unique opportunity to open negotiations on severance not available through the impending tribunal proceedings.
• Sex discrimination claims from three directors / assistant directors of a global company - settlement reached on all three individual claims in an 18-hour mediation.

Professional Negligence

• Claim by a business against two separate firms of solicitors; mediated as a three-party dispute.
• Claim for damages against a professional body by a member who alleged that it had failed to determine a third party complaint properly, resulting in substantial financial loss and stress to the claimant member.
• Claim by a city law firm partner against architect and building professionals.
• Claim against a firm of chartered surveyors and a leaseholder and substantial alleged losses resulting from the management of property and the surrender of keys.

Personal Injury

• Personal injury claim by a serving officer against a Police Authority; mediated to settlement in three hours.
• Claim by a merchant seaman against three defendants for injuries sustained whilst working on a ship in West Africa.

Property

• Dispute between a freehold company and 9 claimants - tenants and leaseholders. The dispute dated back 11 years, and proceedings had first been issued 6 years ago. Settlement was reached between all parties over two days of mediation. Terms included compensation levels, on-going management issues and a detailed schedule of works and other buildings/ construction matters.
• Dispute following sale of property under the Right to Buy scheme about division of proceeds between purchase funder and former tenant.

Probate

• Contested will dispute between four siblings regarding their mother's estate.

General Commercial

• Claim by a European vetinary products manufacturer against distributors in South America.

Media

• Dispute between a production company and an advertising agency regarding the quality of video advertisements for a major client.
• Dispute between a magazine publisher and a printer regarding product quality, distribution errors and outstanding invoices.

Other ADR experience

• Writing a non-binding recommendation to resolve an internal dispute between senior scientists and a government agency.
• One of a two-mediator team in a 4 day mediation spread over 5 months assisting 6 multi-national companies to re-write a joint venture contract over an asset with a multi-million pound annual turnover: the negotiations involved considerable numerical athleticism!
• Heather worked pro bono for several years as a conciliator of NHS complaints between patients and primary health care professionals or the Authority itself. The complexity of the issues involved and the strength of feeling generated on both sides in such matters is often comparable to mediating personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
• She has mediated a number of community disputes on a voluntary basis.

Professional background

Both in her mediation and facilitation work, she draws on broad experience gained in the oil industry, in advertising, publicity and marketing, and then in running a small publishing company as managing editor.

Heather was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1977, and provided a free settlement negotiation and, where necessary, employment tribunal representation service for 5 years through NACAB.

She then developed her own consultancy business, providing management development for teams, groups and for individuals. This work includes a number of projects requiring consensus building for such clients as national and international charities, churches, universities, local authorities, health organisations and commercial partnerships.

Heather often works with Boards of Management and senior management teams of registered social landlords, helping them to develop creative approaches to problem-solving and effective decision-making that combine a not-for-profit ethos with the running of multi-million pound capital and revenue projects in a competitive market environment.

Other current experience

Heather is Head of the CEDR Training Faculty and is editor and a contributor to the CEDR Mediator Handbook.

Heather is well known as a mediator trainer and coach, and she also works regularly with the judiciary and other professionals in developing the wider use of mediation. Heather has worked internationally, training mediators in other parts of Europe, Nigeria, South Africa, India and Pakistan, and has run seminars by invitation in the USA; she has worked as a consultant with jurisdictions abroad, such as Morocco, that are introducing mediation as part of their civil justice system. She also works internationally with experienced resident mediators equipping them to become local trainers. Her experience of working in predominantly Muslim societies and in traditional social contexts adds a useful dimension to her mediation practice.

She acts as a supervisor for experienced mediators and provides post-accreditation and advanced development for practising mediators.

Heather is one of five independent mediator members elected to the Civil Mediation Council of England and Wales.