Isabel Phillips
Mediator
Short Introduction
Isabel Phillips is an experienced commercial, workplace and international conflict mediator specialising in complex disputes involving organisations, governments, NGOs and multinational businesses. A CEDR accredited mediator since 2003, she combines expertise in commercial mediation, workplace conflict, professional negligence, property disputes and stakeholder dialogue with extensive experience working in fragile and post conflict environments worldwide.
Alongside her mediation practice, Isabel is a recognised conflict resolution specialist, trainer and policy adviser. With a PhD in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Conflict Resolution and more than 20 years' experience advising organisations including the World Bank, UNHCR and global corporations, she brings a unique perspective to high conflict and multi stakeholder disputes.
About Work
Workplace, commercial and stakeholder disputes sit at the heart of Isabel's mediation practice. She regularly mediates disputes involving employment and workplace relationships, commercial contracts, professional negligence, property matters, technology disputes and complex organisational conflicts.
Her experience extends beyond traditional commercial mediation to international conflict resolution, stakeholder dialogue and organisational dispute systems. She has worked extensively with intergovernmental organisations, NGOs, public bodies and multinational businesses, helping parties navigate highly charged disputes involving cultural, political and organisational complexity.
Isabel's mediation experience includes executive team disputes, workplace grievances, professional negligence claims, landlord and tenant matters, construction disputes, technology conflicts and multi-party stakeholder disputes. She is particularly experienced in situations involving strong emotions, relationship breakdowns and competing stakeholder interests.
Parties value Isabel's calm, thoughtful and highly adaptable approach. Combining strong facilitative skills with appropriate challenge and reality testing, she helps parties develop practical, sustainable solutions while maintaining momentum towards resolution.
Expertise
- Employment & Workplace
- Private Client
- Commercial & Corporate
- Construction, Property & Planning
- Public Sector & Governance
- Equality & Social Justice
- Healthcare & Personal Matters
Languages
- English
- German
- French (intermediate)
- Bosnian (basic)
- Croatian (basic)
- Serbian (basic)
Awards
- Peace and Conflict Specialist Qualification (Friedensfachkraft)
AGQ, Bonn, Germany (2000). - Certificate in Solution Focused Brief Coaching & Therapy
BRIEF, London (1999 & 2006). - CEDR Accredited Mediator
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, London (2003). - PhD, Peace Studies
“The ADR/CR Divide”
University of Bradford (awarded without corrections), 2017. - Postgraduate Diploma in Social Research Methods (Distinction)
University of Bradford, 2012. - M.A. International Relations (Distinction)
University of East Anglia, 1998. - B.A. (Hons), Modern History (First Class)
University of Liverpool, 1997. - ERASMUS Exchange Student
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany (1995–1996).
Memberships
Civil Mediation Council (CMC): Registered Mediator
Conflict Research Society Advisory Board Member and Annual Book Prize Jurist
FRSA: Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)
MCIArb: Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Publications
- 2024
“Case Note: James Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1461.”
The Quarterly Magazine of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Spring 2024). - 2022
“The Ciarb ADR Competence Frameworks, Competence Statements & Membership Levels.”
International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management 88(4): 675–709. - 2022
“A Perfect Fit: The Rule of Law, Justice Systems and ADR Processes.”
The Quarterly Magazine of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Spring 2022). - 2021
“Writing a Field into Existence: The Divergence and Compartmentalisation of CR and ADR.”
International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management 87(3): 319–339. - 2021
“Inclusion and Exclusion in Mediation; Choosing to Challenge.”
The Quarterly Magazine of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Summer 2021). - 2017
“The ADR/CR Divide: An Autoethnographic Interrogation of Its Impact on the Theory and Practice of Mediation.”
PhD Thesis, University of Bradford (Published by Bradford Scholars). - 2015
“Emotion and Negotiation.”
In How to Master Negotiation (Bloomsbury, 2015). - 2010
“A Meeting of Minds: Bringing Academics and Practitioners in the World of Conflict Management Together.”
The Training Journal (Feature Article). - 2009
“The Joy of Negotiation: How to Persuade Clients to Negotiate.”
Solutions: The Dispute Resolution Magazine of the Law Society (Issue 13, February 2009).