The Minister for Justice and Equality has recently published
details of a proposed Mediation Bill. The general objective of the
proposed Bill is to promote mediation as a mainstream alternative
to court litigation, thereby reducing legal costs and speeding up
the resolution of disputes.
The proposed Bill, if implemented, requires the parties to
dispute and their legal advisors to focus their minds at an early
stage on the cost and time benefits of mediation and the potential
to resolve the dispute. This would be a welcome development,
particularly for insurers, as it should result in earlier
engagement by the parties and less settlements 'at the door of
the court'. Insurers should, however, consider the current
mediation clauses in their contracts and the extent to which these
clauses may need to be amended.
