Rachael Bicknell > Squaring Circles > Edinburgh, > Lawyer Profile

Rachael Bicknell

+44 131 259 4679 rachael@squaringcircles.uk View profile

Position

Rachael is one of 60 commercial mediators in the UK ranked in Chambers and Partners (2024) and is also recognised as a Leading UK Mediator in Legal 500 (2024). She has mediated over 90 commercial and civil disputes since 2020 and now mediates around 25 high value cases each year. In the last 2 years she has mediated disputes with a combined value of c.£50 million, and with an average dispute value of c.£1 million.

Rachael consistently receives excellent client feedback and has been described as “hugely skilful”, “impressive”, “incredible” and “the best mediator I’ve come across in a long time”. She is renowned for her calm, assured and personable manner, her thorough preparation, and her ability to grasp complex technical issues and to quickly understand multiple issues and competing interests. Rachael is also praised for her tenacity and resilience in helping the parties to come to a resolution, and her ability not to give up, even when the parties remain some considerable distance apart.

Rachael is the founder of Squaring Circles, winner of the UK wide National Mediation Awards 2020 Newcomer of the Year. Before becoming a full-time mediator, for 12 years she practised as a dispute resolution solicitor at two of the UK’s most successful premium law firms, representing negotiating parties in mediations and solicitor to solicitor negotiations of commercial disputes ranging in value from tens of thousands to multimillion pound claims.

Reflecting her former practice as a solicitor, Rachael is routinely instructed in a broad range of commercial disputes. She handles disputes across the UK involving corporates, insurers, private, public and third sector clients. Areas of practice include:

• • Agriculture and rural business
  • Boundary and access
  • Breach of contract and warranty claims
  • Commercial
  • Construction and engineering
  • Corporate and shareholder
  • Employment
  • Energy
  • Family business
  • Inheritance and executry
  • Insolvency
  • Land and forestry
  • Landlord and tenant
  • Partnerships
  • Professional negligence
  • Property
  • Telecoms

Rachael is a Certified Mediator with the International Mediation Institute (IMI) and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI). She is also a registered civil and commercial mediator with the Civil Mediation Council in England & Wales and with Scottish Mediation.

Rachael was appointed to the ADGM Arbitration Centre Panel of Mediators in Abu Dhabi in January 2023, the RICS President’s Panel for Mediation in October 2022 and to the Scottish Land Commission mediation panel in January 2021. She also teaches negotiation skills on the Online LLM in Dispute Resolution at the University of Aberdeen, a UK top-10 law school.

Career

2019 – present: founder of Squaring Circles and full-time practising mediator since January 2020

2014 – 2019: Dispute Resolution, Addleshaw Goddard

2005 – 2014: Dispute Resolution, Burness Paull

Languages

English

Memberships

International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator

Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) Certified Mediator

President’s Panel Mediator of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Arbitration Centre Panel of Mediators

Member (MCIArb) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

Civil Mediation Council registered mediator

Scottish Mediation registered mediator

Education

Mediating the Litigated Case at the Straus Institute, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law: March 2021

ADR ODR International Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator: October 2020

CEDR Accredited Negotiator: February 2020

Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School: October 2019

Accredited Mediator with Core Solutions: May 2015

University of Edinburgh Diploma in Legal Practice: 2005

University of Edinburgh Bachelor of Law (Hons) 2:1: 2003