Just before every solicitor jettisons all they ever thought they knew about mediation after reading your piece 'ADR costs penalty relaxed' (see [2004] Gazette, 13 May, 3) could I offer the following clarification on certain key points:

• There have never been any automatic sanctions for refusing to mediate; however, Halsey v Milton Keynes NHS Trust makes it absolutely clear that sanctions are available and will be used, especially if a judge advises mediation, but also even where mediation is proposed direct by one party.


• The burden of displacing the presumption of costs following the event has always rested with the unsuccessful party, and this remains the same.


• The 'tide of authority' referred to by Glyn Jones of Ricksons is not at first instance. The Court of Appeal decisions of Cowl v Plymouth City Council, Dunnett v Railtrack, Neal v Jones Motors, Leicester Circuits v Coats Industries, Virani v Manuel Revert and McMillen Williams v Range all remain good law.


• Halsey is not authority for an 'assumption that it is reasonable to refuse mediation'. I can see what Paul Hughes was trying to say, but Halsey certainly does not create any such assumption.


• Halsey strictly applies only to cases where the party refusing mediation was successful. If you are not successful, it offers no comfort.


Perhaps the greatest help I can give is to quote in full a sentence from paragraph 11 of Lord Justice Dyson's judgment, where he makes crystal clear every lawyer's professional duty: 'The value and importance of ADR have been established within a remarkably short time. All members of the legal profession who conduct litigation should now routinely consider with their clients whether their disputes are suitable for ADR.'


Practitioners should review Halsey before they get into major difficulties. Many misread Dunnett v Railtrack, and there is a serious risk of misreading Halsey.


Anyone who thinks that Halsey somehow reduces the need to understand and embrace alternative dispute resolution is seriously mistaken.


Tony Allen, solicitor and a director of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, London