Both sides can benefit from mediating professional complaints

A former colleague of mine, himself an experienced personal injury litigator, discovered mediation through his involvement with the firm’s professional indemnity insurers. The insurers had long valued the use of mediation to resolve professional negligence claims.

I resolve this kind of dispute through mediated settlement meetings because often the complainant will want to feel they have been listened to. Mediation works so well in this area because – as in clinical negligence claims – the claimant will often want an explanation, want to know it won’t happen again and sometimes want an apology. This is not to say every claim is justified and mediation is an excellent method of risk assessing cases and ensuring that weak cases are not taken to trial.

Complaints handling

A complaint needn’t escalate into a negligence claim. Solicitors can improve the relationship with their client by handling complaints well. I offer to assist by acting as an impartial third party – not to decide if a complaint is justified but to help the parties resolve it to their own satisfaction. You can tailor this procedure to one which will work for you – by way of example it may involve short informal face-to-face meetings.

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