Senior legal figures join forces with accountants for mediation group

Lord Woolf and Cherie Booth QC are heading up a scheme in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) which will see accountants and lawyers mediating alongside each other.

The ICAEW has put together a group of senior lawyers and accountants who will work together to advise on high-value business disputes for FTSE 250-level companies.

The group will focus on issues such as contracts, intellectual property rights and lending agreements.

As well as Booth and Woolf, the body includes a number of partners from law firms including CMS Cameron McKenna, SJ Berwin and Clyde & Co, along with representatives from the Big Four accountancy firms.

The initiative has been set up in response to the rising volume of commercial disputes being resolved through mediation as well as the growing pressures on organisations to reduce the costs of litigation in the economic downturn.

ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza said: "The service is the first of its kind to combine the expertise of both lawyers and accountants. By bringing together these two highly-regarded professions we are providing a unique way of resolving commercial disputes. The service offers cost-effective and quicker solutions to avoid expensive litigation."

Group members

• Arthur Harverd - chairman of the London Court of International Arbitration
• Tim Hardy - CMS Cameron McKenna head of dispute resolution
• Joseph Wan - Harvey Nichols chief executive
• Phillip Howell-Richardson - SJ Berwin consultant and head of firm's ADR unit
• Jane Andrewartha - Clyde & Co litigation partner
• Wolf von Kumberg - European legal director and assistant general counsel at Northrop Grumman
• Sir Philip Otton - former Court of Appeal judge, now practising as an arbitrator and mediator.
• Leslie Perrin - chairman of funding broker Calunius Capital and former managing partner and senior partner at Osborne Clarke  
• Quentin Smith - former Addleshaw Goddard disputes partner and full-time mediator
• Tony Willis - mediator and former managing partner at Clifford Chance