Glasgow sheriffs celebrate university mediation clinic’s first year

Since February 2014 the University of Strathclyde Mediation Clinic has provided a free mediation service to party litigants in the small claims court each Friday afternoon.

Speaking at the reception, Senior Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell thanked the clinic’s volunteers (experienced mediators working pro bono alongside students on the LLM/MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution).

He described the first year’s results as “very impressive” and said the sheriffs already felt they would be hard pressed to do without the scheme.

Glasgow Sheriff Court Small Claims Mediation Pilot was set up by clinic director, Professor Charlie Irvine, working in close consultation with Sheriff Principal Scott and Sheriff Platt and with the support of Strathclyde Law School.

The clinic coordinator attends the party litigants’ court and, where the sheriff regards a case as potentially suitable for mediation, speaks to the individuals on the spot.

After a brief explanation, if both parties agree to proceed, the mediation takes place immediately, using witness rooms and any available courtroom.

Mediations typically last around two hours.

In some instances the clinic provides mediation outside the court, in Strathclyde Law School or using online dispute resolution technology.

51 cases were mediated in the first year of the pilot.

71 per cent settled and, of these, 81 per cent have so far been fulfilled; in fact the fulfilment rate will be higher as most involve payment by instalments and to date all are on track.

Across the scheme settlements averaged 63 per cent of the sum sued for. Subject matter varied from vehicle related (10), landlord/tenant (9), unpaid bills (9), building work (7), deposit return (3), personal property dispute (3), succession (2), goods (2), contract (1) and conveyancing (1).

This represents a significant saving in court time in terms of Proof dates not required, as well as for litigants themselves in terms of both time and stress.

An early analysis of client feedback by MSc graduate, Jane Anniss, found good to very good levels of satisfaction with mediation and the universal belief that the mediation process had been quicker, less stressful and more confidential than proceeding through litigation.

Head of Strathclyde Law School, Professor Bryan Clark, said:”The Law School is delighted to support this initiative which provides our LLM/MSc Mediation students with unrivalled experiential learning opportunities as well as continuing the School’s long tradition of making valuable contributions to the communities that we serve.”