My interest in alternative resolution techniques stemmed from a realisation that often what my clients wanted to achieve went above and beyond what any judge could order. In medical cases, for example, a typical Claimant’s shopping list includes an apology, an explanation and reassurance that lessons have been learnt over and above compensation. My experience is that a bit of TLC at a sufficiently early stage can go a long way in recreating trust in the system, which may have been trashed by the tragedy that had brought the clients into my office.

When the opportunity came to qualify as a mediator it seemed the most natural thing to happen. It was how I thought I had always acted in my own cases. So why should I need a mediator in my cases and why should anyone need me in theirs? The proof is in the eating. I have now appointed mediators in several intractable cases of my own. All have settled.

Since qualifying as a mediator I have enjoyed helping parties resolve their disputes in all sorts of legal arenas, often involving thinking outside the box to the apparent astonishment of the parties. "Do we have to issue proceedings to get to something like this?" asked one set of previously warring parties. Of course not!

Sports disputes are no different. The beauty of mediation is that, unlike a sport, there are no rules (other than that the process is confidential). Mediation can take place at any time providing the parties are willing to talk - if not to each other at least to a mediator. To paraphrase a famous advertisement, a mediator can reach parts of a dispute and areas for resolution that no judicial process could reach. As a mediator I am not a judge, a referee or umpire. I am simply there to help.

So if you have a sports dispute take the plunge. Mediation may not be perfect but it is a vastly better experience for the parties than court room adversarial cut and thrust. Try it and see!

^{Paul Balen is a Solicitor, an ADR Group Registered Mediator and a member of the Sport Resolutions (UK) Panel of Mediators. Paul has a passionate interest in sports law, and has acted for international sportsmen in rugby, cricket, shooting, polo and football. He is legal adviser to Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Paul is listed as a leading individual in Clinical Negligence and Product Liability in the 2010 edition of Chambers UK-A Client’s Guide to the UK Legal Profession, and in Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence in the 2009 edition of the Legal 500.}