A recent decision in the Technology and Construction Court has reinforced the binding nature of pre-agreed dispute resolution clauses (DRPs)

My article “One factor among many: sanctioning refusal to mediate” noted a trend among some judges of flinching from imposing costs sanctions on a party who refused to mediate, even unreasonably.

Over the last 30 years, since its early practice in 1989, there has been steady growth in the total number of cases using mediation in the United Kingdom.

An interesting trend is beginning to emerge in relation to decisions over whether to sanction unreasonable refusals to mediate.