Northerners prefer mediation of disputes

Northern companies would prefer the courts to order mandatory mediation, and would be deterred from litigation by additional rises in court fees, according to a survey.Based on data collected from 35 Yorkshire-based companies, the survey - carried out by the ADR Group with Dibb Lupton Alsop - found 75% of respondents in favour of courts having the power to order mandatory mediation in advance of litigation proceedings.

A similar number said a further increase in court fees would make them more reluctant to litigate.

Court fees were raised last month despite heavy criticism.Only 2% of respondents said the new Part 36 procedure was successful in forcing settlements.

A recent MORI poll of solicitors carried out for the Centre for Dispute Resolution found that 74% of solicitors believed that Part 36 assisted settlement.Another survey looking into the Woolf reforms - based on the responses of 47 large personal injury firms to Medico-Legal Reporting - found that two thirds of respondents said their PI claims are settling earlier following the reforms.

But just over half of those polled said there had been no change in clients' perceptions of the speed of the legal process.See FeatureJeremy Fleming