Squaring Circles

Over the last 5 years Rachael has built a thriving commercial and civil mediation practice. She is listed in Chambers and Partners (2026) in the top 50 commercial mediators in the UK and as a Leading UK Mediator in Legal 500 (2026).

She brings to her mediation practice two decades of dispute resolution expertise, including over 14 years commercial litigation experience at two of the UK’s most successful premium law firms. She specialises in commercial disputes and is routinely appointed on contractual, professional negligence, construction, real estate, insolvency, company, director, shareholder, family business, business interruption, partnership, boardroom, and inheritance and executry disputes. She mediates with corporates, insurers, private, public and third sector clients and with parties from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the USA, Canada and Australia. She has mediated claims with up to 6 separately represented parties and 40 participants.

Rachael consistently receives excellent client feedback and has been described as “hugely skilful”, “impressive”, “incredible”, “the best mediator I’ve come across in a long time” and “my first choice of mediator”. 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 ability to quickly build rapport and for her tenacity and resilience in helping the parties to come to a resolution, even when they remain some considerable distance apart.

Rachael is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM), an invitation-only organisation of the world’s pre-eminent commercial mediators. She is also certified by the International Mediation Institute (IMI) and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) and a registered civil and commercial mediator with the Civil Mediation Council (CMC) and Scottish Mediation. She is on the mediation panels for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Scottish Land Commission.

She trained in negotiation and mediation at Harvard Law School and the Strauss Institute at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law respectively. She is a member of the training faculty on the RICS Mediation Training Programme and until 2023 taught negotiation skills on the Online LLM in Dispute Resolution at the University of Aberdeen, a UK top-10 law school.

Areas of practice include:

• • Agriculture and rural business
  • Boundary and access
  • Boardroom
  • Breach of contract and warranty claims
  • Commercial and business
  • Construction and engineering
  • Corporate and shareholder
  • Employment
  • Energy
  • Family business
  • Financial services
  • Inheritance and executry
  • Insolvency
  • Land and forestry
  • Landlord and tenant
  • Partnerships
  • Professional negligence
  • Real estate
  • Sale of goods and services
  • Telecoms

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

English

Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators

International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator

Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) Certified Mediator

Panel Mediator at the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association

Panel Mediator at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

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

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Dispute Resolution Centre Panel of Mediators

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

Civil Mediation Council registered mediator

Scottish Mediation registered mediator

Part-time Master of Law (LLM) in Construction Law, University of Strathclyde: September 2025 - 2027

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