Meet the Team – Henrietta Jackson-Stops

Who are you and what is your experience in mediation?

I started my career as a litigator at Allen & Overy which was exciting and demanding. However, mediation has always been in the background – I wrote my dissertation on mediation whilst studying the GDL. Whilst at A&O I saw the many challenges and costs for clients of taking a dispute to litigation or arbitration and, frankly, thought that there was a more productive way I could spend my time! However, mediation seemed to me, at that time, a career for when I had a few more grey hairs and so I was distracted for a while by studying for a LLM in Public International Law and then working for the Government Legal Department both of which I really enjoyed. I qualified as a mediator in 2014 and in 2016 made it my full-time career – I now run IPOS Mediation alongside my own practice as a mediator.

How long have you been with the CMC? What are the responsibilities you have taken on?

IPOS Mediation was a founding member of the CMC so we have had a long history of being involved with its work. I have represented IPOS’ place as a registered provider on the Board for 4 years. I chair the Government Liaison Working Group (GLWG) whose remit is, unsurprisingly, to liaise with Government and to promote mediation to them. There is still work to be done in promoting the CMC role as a regulatory and membership body – I have come up against misconceptions as to what the CMC does and who it represents.

The GLWG have pushed for, and contributed to, the recently republished page on mediation hosted on the MoJ’s website – as a first source of information for the public this is a good development. As Chair of the GLWG, I am currently sitting on the Judicial ADR Liaison Committee as the CMC’s representative – the creation of this committee has been a huge step forwards in making sure (A)DR is at the forefront of the minds of policymakers.  I have also had responsibility for formulating the CMC’s response to the Civil Justice Council’s Report on Compulsory ADR and am currently working on the CMC’s response to the recent Call for Evidence from the MoJ.

Where do you see the CMC heading? What are your hopes for the future of mediation and (Alternative) Dispute Resolution?

We are living in exciting times in relation to the conversation around (A)DR. There is a real desire to put (A)DR at the centre of civil justice however, what that looks like, is still up for discussion. The Master of the Rolls’ vision is for integrated (A)DR solutions to be available at various stages of a dispute’s journey through the system but, and he has been clear about this, this may not be mediation as we know it. So, our efforts are focussed on ensuring that mediation as a profession and a means of resolving disputes is properly integrated in civil justice. We need to ensure that we are providing a properly trained and accredited pool of mediators who are fairly and properly remunerated for their work. Lawyers, barristers and judges are all properly paid for their work – mediators should be too.

Mediation is often seen as an add-on – an additional cost to litigation – but I don’t think that there is a clear enough articulation of the costs of litigation so that disputing parties can make a more informed decision – if these two methods of dispute resolution are put side by side it’s clear which method wins out!