Mediation Masterclass: Mediating Complex Disputes

There are no formal entry requirements to our Executive Education courses, however, typically our applicants will have: 

• A minimum of three years' work experience
• A Bachelor's degree or higher, or significant work experience in a relevant role(s) to the degree expectation
• A fluency in English (an English language test is not required for this programme, however, the programme is taught entirely in English without translation, and so you should be comfortable communicating in English)

1. Standard: £400 (Early bird £350)
2. UCL Alumni and CMC Members: £350 (£300 early bird )
3. Student/ Public sector/ charity/ not-for-profit organisations = £250 (£200 early bird)

The minimum number for this course is 10 students. We will notify delegates on 1st June if we have sufficient students for the course to run. Please do not make any travel or accommodation arrangements until the course is confirmed. 

This masterclass will appeal to:

• Practitioners: Legal and business practitioners, mediators, government representatives and dispute resolution professionals seeking to deepen their expertise in complex mediations.
• Judges: Those ordering, or conducting mediation within judicial processes.
• Academics: Researchers and educators examining mediation’s expanding role in complex dispute resolution.

Whether you are an experienced mediator or approaching this field for the first time, the course offers valuable perspectives and skills to enhance your approach.

• Practical expertise: Gain insights from leading international mediators and lawyers with extensive hands‑on experience resolving complex disputes.
• Policy insight: Stay informed about the latest national and international policy and legislative developments shaping the mediation landscape.
• Professional growth: Build confidence and develop advanced skills for managing and participating in multi‑layered mediations.
• Networking opportunities: Connect with senior practitioners and peers.

• Improved dispute resolution capacity: Equip yourself and your team with tools to handle high‑complexity mediations more efficiently and effectively.
• Strategic advantage: Position your organisation as a leader in adopting and applying advanced mediation practices.
• Judicial innovation: For courts and institutions, gain insights into how mediation expertise is increasingly integrated into modern justice systems.
• Enhanced reputation: Demonstrate a commitment to progressive, effective, and consensual approaches to dispute resolution.

• Understanding Complexity in Mediation
  Examine the factors that heighten the complexity of a mediation – ranging from party dynamics and subject‑matter intricacy to diverse cultural, commercial or political backgrounds, and the value (financial or otherwise) at stake.
• Preparing for a Complex Mediation
  Explore when mediation is most appropriate – including when courts may order or encourage it – and how to prepare thoroughly from the perspective of the parties, their legal advisers and the mediator.
• Facilitating Complex Mediations
  Gain practical guidance on handling the challenges that arise during complex mediations, including:
  - designing effective processes for multi‑party disputes
  – building trust and rapport
  – overcoming impasse and maintaining momentum
  – helping parties identify, test and refine settlement options
  – assessing when a mediation should continue—or come to a close
• Broader Applications of Mediation Skills
  Discover how mediation skills extend beyond legal disputes, and explore their application in a wide range of conflict and negotiation contexts.

Delegates will receive four hours of tuition. 

There will be no assessment but delegates will receive a certificate of completion.  

Dr John Sorabji
John is an Associate Professor of Law at UCL, specialising in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Civil Justice. He is a member of the Civil Justice Council, co-chairing its review of litigation funding, and a Visiting Professor at Université Pantheon-Assas, lecturing on English civil justice. 

John has authored 'English Civil Justice after Woolf and Jackson' and 'A Model Code of Civil Procedure for England and Wales (2024)'. He is General Editor of 'Civil Procedure (The White Book)' and 'Foskett on Compromise' and contributes to leading legal texts such as 'Zuckerman on Civil Procedure'. Outside academia, he was Deputy Private Secretary to HM King Charles III and Principal Legal Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice, advising on constitutional and judicial governance issues, court reform, and civil justice digitisation.

Dr Anna Howard
Dr Anna Howard is a Lecturer at UCL Faculty of Laws where she teaches on the LLB and LLM Alternative Dispute Resolution programmes.  Anna is a lawyer, mediator and researcher with over 20 years' experience in legal practice, teaching and research.  Anna's research focuses on mediation and she has spoken about her book, EU Cross-Border Commercial Mediation: Listening to Disputants (Wolters Kluwer 2021) at leading universities and institutions, including Oxford University, the UNCITRAL Academy and the International Mediation Institute.

From 2022 to 2025, Anna served as an assistant to Lord Neuberger and Bill Marsh in the mediations of civil claims arising from the Grenfell Tower fire.

Before moving into academia and mediation, Anna practised competition law at a couple of international law firms. 

Bill Marsh
Full-time in mediation since 1991, Bill has mediated commercial, environmental, religious, ethnic, and human rights disputes with parties from all around the world for over 30 years. He has also served as adviser on mediation/conflict resolution to many governments including Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Saudi Arabia, and bodies such as the European Union Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank. 

Bill trains and mentors mediators from around the world, has served a Special Adviser on Reconciliation to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in 2016 received the Archbishop’s inaugural award for outstanding services to reconciliation. Bill is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, and was formerly a lawyer in private practice.

Gerard McDermott KC
Gerard McDermott is one of the leading Personal Injury Silks at the Bar.

He has been involved, as Advocate,  in mediating a large number of PI cases over the last 20 years or so and involved in ADR through joint settlement meetings in many more.  

Together with Lord Hermer KC he represented most of the Claimants affected by the Grenfell Tower disaster which claims were managed under a bespoke ADR scheme with Lord Neuberger and Bill Marsh leading the ADR as mediators / facilitators. This complex ADR process ultimately led to a Global Settlement being made in the ADR. Gerard has been closely involved in the process of distribution of the funds from that global settlement. He has almost unrivalled experience in ADR in this field. 

He is a qualified mediator having been trained by the London School of Mediation. 

John Sturrock KC
Following a career at the Scottish Bar, John Sturrock KC moved into mediation in the early 2000s and is the founder and senior mediator at Core Solutions (www.core-solutions.com). He has been identified as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal and is a Distinguished Fellow Emeritus of the international Academy of Mediators.

In addition to his work as a mediator, John has worked extensively as a coach, consultant and facilitator with parliaments throughout the UK, the Scottish Government, public bodies, business and sport. He was a member of the Stewarding Group of the first Citizens Assembly in Scotland and in 2019, he conducted a well-received review for the Scottish Government into allegations of bullying in NHS Highland. He maintains an active involvement in matters to do with health and social care in Scotland.

John co-chaired an Expert Group which produced a report in 2019 entitled “Bringing Mediation into the Mainstream”. He has published two volumes of his book, A Mediator’s Musings.

By the end of the masterclass, participants will:

• Understand the factors that contribute to complexity in mediation.
• Develop advanced skills for facilitating the resolution of complex (including multi‑party) disputes, whether acting as mediator, adviser or party.
• Appreciate mediation’s growing prominence in complex dispute resolution and the policy and legislative frameworks supporting this development.