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To anon @14.54

That may be your experience, but any Claimant lawyer that takes that approach is doing a disservice to their client. If your insurer client genuinely has no idea what is going on and has not been able to obtain any of their own medical evidence pre-issue, then why would they provide interim payments and support rehabilitation?

If the Claimant wants interim funds (which is essential in nearly every high value case) and for their rehab to be addressed, then there has to be a degree of give and take.

What would I achieve by not keeping a Defendant informed and issuing at the last moment? My client would be wondering why no progress was being made.

Returning to ADR / mediation, I use it a lot in complex PI cases and I note that arbitration through PiCARBs is now an option, which I hope to explore.

The problem with the theme of the article (at least as far as complex PI is concerned) is that insurers are playing a tactical game around the discount rate and the likelihood of change at some point in the next 18 months. They will have no interest in mediation when their focus is on this issue, though lip service may be paid to mediation so as to prolong cases to the point where the DR is more advantageous to them.