Increasingly, the government will not pay, and the public cannot pay, for litigation services.

Mediation offers an answer.

It is substantially cheaper than litigation.

It is quick and it is easier for the parties to remain on reasonable terms.

In short, when successful, it increases access to justice and provides a better quality of outcome than litigation.It has been said that not all lawy ers would make good mediators, but the best mediators are lawyers.

A good lawyer will have highly developed listening and questioning skills, which are essential in mediation.

Lawyers are still the first port of call for most people with a dispute.

We have a golden opportunity to promote mediation and to use it to provide work for the many unemployed lawyers.

My concern is that it is another market that we look set to lose.On a very practical level we have no one to whom we can refer disputes for mediation unless they are community or family related.

There are existing commercial mediation providers, but they exist primarily for the benefit of their shareholders rather than for the benefit of the profession as a whole.The solution is quite simple; the Law Society should set up a national lawyer mediation service.

We have the opportunity to create a new service from scratch.

With leadership, it is a project that could be up and running within a year.

I would suggest that the following is required to make the concept a reality.-- The Society should recruit an experienced mediator to co-ordinate the project.-- An agreement should be reached with the College of Law or other continuing education course providers for the provision of a training course, to agreed standards, at an affordable price.-- A code of conduct and basic case work procedures should be drafted and approved by the Society's Council.-- A recommended scale of fees should be agreed.

This would be possible because we would be operating in competition with other mediation providers.-- An accreditation system should be implemented.

Obviously all accredited mediators would have to have completed the approved training course.

In addition, they would have to be monitored whilst they completed a number of 'flying hours'.

Initial mediations might have to be undertaken with experienced mediators or the cases limited to simple or low value disputes.-- The Lord Chancellor's Department and the Legal Aid Board would be requested to approve the scheme.

Courts would then be able to refer potential litigants to local solicitors accredited to the scheme, although they would have to compete with other mediation providers.

Referrals could be made direct to local firms or could be channelled through a central agency similar to Accident Line.

Legal aid would eventually become available for appropriate cases.-- Links should be established, in particular with existing community mediation schemes, to ensure that there would be cross referral of appropriate cases.

In addition, solicitors could gain experience as local volunteer mediators, helping themselves and the community.-- The scheme should be actively promoted by the Society within the profession and in the media.The opportunity is there if we, as a profession, have the vision to grasp it.

If not, then I fear that a future generation of lawyers might appeal for the abolition of 'cut-price' mediation as a means of reviving their diminishing litigation practices.