When your original article on the success of the Manchester small claims mediator was published in September (see [2006] Gazette, 14 September, 1), I raised the question as to whether the Courts Service was being entirely fair in comparing the Devon & Exeter Law Society's (DELS) groundbreaking small claims mediation scheme with the Manchester scheme, and asked that our mediators should at least be given the opportunity of telephone mediations.


I am delighted to say that this has now come to pass and that Exeter County Court has made provision for our mediators to have the use of telephones in order to mediate eases where one party turns up and the other does not. We have expressed our willingness to undertake mediations by telephone when neither party turns up.



Present results are very encouraging and I see no reason why our scheme cannot approach the same levels of satisfaction and settlements that James Rustidge reports.



What concerns me principally is that because James and any other in-court mediators are dependent for the continuation of their employment on their success rates, they are subject therefore to pressures to which external mediators are not. With the greatest respect to James Rustidge - and having met him I do have great respect for him - this is always going to be a criticism of in-house mediators.



I understand that an in-house mediator is about to be appointed for Bristol County Court and another for Dorset. But it is open to judges to indicate that they do not want in-house mediation, in which case, provided an alternative service is available, external mediators can fill local needs.



The DELS service has been renewed until September 2007 and we anticipate it will be renewed again until March 2008, by which time it will be possible to make a more balanced comparison between in-house and external mediators.



I think it is important to note that the success rates Mr Rustidge achieves are unlikely to be achieved in the main court schemes. Figures from various county courts reveal a vast difference in settlement rates, varying between about 15%

and 75%



The final outcome is likely to be that with really high-quality small claims mediators attached to the major courts, a Manchester-type solution is appropriate. But in smaller court groupings, external mediators are likely to be the way forward.



Jeremy Ferguson, chairman of the mediation committee, Devon & Exeter Law Society